Prestige
by SVFFR
Summary: Together, the Cardinal System and Kayaba Akihiko decide to implement a new System governing character progression. Following open beta testing for Sword Art Online, thousands of players are trapped in the world of Aincrad, a world where death is not quite the end and NPCs are much more than what they seem. Includes characters from all arcs and spinoffs. Harem.
1. Prologue - At Journey's End

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but my ideas. This applies to the whole fic.

 **A/N:** Current end-of-chapter content and formatting may be inconsistent. This will be fixed within the next few days.

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 **Prologue – At Journey's End**

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 **Floor 10**

After four long years in development, the new VRMMO _Sword Art Online_ , abbreviated as _S.A.O._ , officially started its closed beta testing phase on May 1, 2026. One thousand people - a mix of veteran gamers and uninitiated newbies - were invited to aid its lone developer Kayaba Akihiko in testing and improving the game he poured the last four years of his life into. It would be the first time anyone other than he would be able to experience the world he had built. One month later, it was time for the closed beta to end. At midnight, all player progress would be reset in preparation for the next step before the game's full release.

But, seventeen-year-old Kirigaya Kazuto, online alias Kirito, didn't care. Though it was disappointing, he wasn't that torn about the loss of progress. This was because in the one month he'd been given, he had accomplished what he set out to do. Currently, he was staring in satisfaction at the proof of his achievement on his Status screen. On the small holographic display in front of the dark-haired teen were six Skill slots, filled with two Weapon Skills, three Combat Skills, and one Auxiliary Skill.

 _Sword Art Online_ 's gameplay emphasized freedom and individuality. To that end, there were no predefined character classes. Instead, players could mix-and-match Skills with varying effects to support their preferred playstyle. The Skills themselves came in three flavors: Weapon Skills, Combat Skills, and Auxiliary Skills. Weapon Skills allowed one to equip weapons of the corresponding type and unlocked the game's titular Sword Arts for that weapon type as they were leveled up. Combat Skills offered a variety of passive bonuses to players in battle. Auxiliary Skills encompassed all other Skills related to in-game actions.

Customizing and optimizing one's Skill set was a large part of the game. Removing a Skill immediately reduced its level by half or more, sometimes all the way to zero, so players also had to be extra mindful of their choices. This encouraged experimentation in the early stages and specialization as players naturally gained experience with different Skills. In addition, players often picked Skills whose effects complemented each other and ended up discovering new interactions between Skills or secret, more advanced Skills that only became available if a certain combination of other Skills were chosen and leveled up. Eventually, information brokers who kept careful records of these hidden Skills and other useful things became especially prominent in the game's economy as the company who produced it ruthlessly suppressed any information about the game that was posted on online forums.

Of course, with the game in its beta-testing phase, any concerns about Skill choice had been far from Kirito's mind when he first started. He had always been a sort of free spirit, so he had simply gone with his gut for every Skill thus far. The results were unexpected, but far from unwelcome. Though his other Skills were nowhere near the maximum level of one hundred, both of Kirito's Weapon Skills had small stars in place of their levels, signifying that he had completed the process of leveling them. This was noteworthy enough by itself, since the vast majority of the other players had not bothered to max out any Skills at all, opting instead to try out as many of the hundreds of Skills as possible, but what made it really stand out was that the two Weapon Skills were identical, something that could only be achieved via the game's Prestige System.

Normally, a player could only equip one copy of any given Skill. Only by using the Prestige option, available once a Skill was completely maxed out, could a player could equip a copy of that Skill to another open slot, resetting both Skills to level one in the process. Kirito was the only player who had achieved Prestige in the beta and was in fact the person who discovered the system existed since it wasn't mentioned anywhere in the game's sparse tutorials.

At first glance, the usefulness of the Prestige System was questionable. Equipping duplicates of a Skill conferred the same bonuses as if only one of the Skill were equipped, at least for Weapon Skills. This made taking advantage of it dubious with the limited amount of skill slots available to players. However, with two copies of a Weapon Skill came the ability to equip two weapons of the same type. For Kirito, someone who used to practice two-sword style kendo in real life, being able to properly wield two swords again was a personal goal that he had sacrificed more than two-thirds of his waking hours over the past month to attain.

The month-long duration of the beta made achieving the maximum level for most Skills impossible, since almost all of them had some sort of time restraint on their leveling process, but that was not the case for Weapon Skills. All one had to do to level up them was to fight with their corresponding weapons, and fight Kirito did. He spent hours upon hours grinding up and down all ten floors of the floating castle of Aincrad available in the beta, slaying his way across each floor as it was unlocked and earning himself the rather embarrassing title of "Eternal Monster Hunter" for his antics. In the process, he unwittingly pioneered the unlocking of the other nine floors by pushing the combat engine to its limits and motivating the players who watched him to fight as well, if for no other reason than to imitate the sheer "cool" factor of effortlessly slashing through packs of wolves, lizardmen, and all manner of other types of monsters in mere minutes. The end result: he was now the proud owner of the only duplicate Weapon Skills in the game that he knew of. The two swords strapped to his back were a constant reminder of this fact to both himself and anyone who saw him.

The Skill system for _S.A.O._ was simultaneously simple and complex. Skills were divided into three categories: Weapon Skills, Combat Skills, and Auxiliary Skills, and players started with one of each type of Skill slot at level one. These initial Skill slots were exclusive in that players could only equip the matching type of Skill to them. Players then gained an additional Skill slot every ten character levels and another every tenth floor boss that could be used for any of the three types of Skills, maxing out at ten Skill slots total no matter how that total was reached.

Weapon Skills were the most important and least plentiful Skills in the game. Every equipped Weapon Skill allowed a player to equip one weapon of that type, though something like a set of throwing picks or a bag of darts could also count as a single "weapon" for a Skill like «Throwing Weapons». Players were outright unable to equip weapons they did not have the corresponding Skill for unless they had the Auxiliary Skill «Arms Master», which came with its own restrictions. However, the real importance of Weapon Skills was that they granted players access to the true bread-and-butter of the combat system, the game's titular Sword Arts.

A player's Weapon Skill level contributed to their overall damage with weapons of that type, but the bulk of a player's damage relied on Sword Arts, special attacks that could be executed by assuming one of several context-sensitive stances and allowing the game's physics engine to assist with the rest of the motion. As a side note, despite their name, "Sword" Arts were not restricted to swords or even sword-like weapons, being applicable to axes, staves, and even plain fisticuffs. Sword Arts dealt bonus damage and typically moved a player's body faster than the player themselves could, meaning PvE combat (or Player vs. Environment, meaning monsters) was less dependent on actual skill with a weapon, while PvP (Player vs. Player) combat was the opposite since the rigid motions of Sword Arts were disadvantageous to use against someone experienced with how they worked.

Kirito had practical swordsmanship experience on top of his almost instinctive grasp of various game mechanics. He had briefly considered making a name for himself in the arena of the starting town, but decided against it in the end since it would have revealed his player name when a match began, something that he had taken great care to hide for personal reasons. Before the iconic dual swords crossed behind his back became the a constant on his in-game avatar, Kirito used to keep the rest of his features hidden beneath a hooded cloak that he also used to change the color and pattern of almost every day. Back then, nobody would have been able to identify him since many players copied his looks and a few even impersonated him in an attempt to steal his title. He secretly wished them luck, but each and every single one failed to live up to expectations when asked to clear a lap around the tenth floor as proof, a feat he was well-known for doing on a regular basis back when he was training his «One-Handed Sword» Skill.

In contrast to Weapon Skills, Combat Skills were passive abilities like automatic healing or a reduction in the duration of the vulnerability state players were left in after executing a Sword Art. They acted as support for a player's chosen style of combat, whether they preferred to launch an all-out offensive or favored more defensive or opportunistic styles. _Sword Art Online_ had no magic system, so healing could only be done via the limited supply of potions players could carry with them, or via Combat Skills like «Vitality» or «First Aid». Thus, players had to choose their Combat Skills wisely, balancing the ability to keep themselves healthy with the added utility offered by other Skills.

…Unless of course you were Kirito and you didn't care about dying. His three Combat Skills were «Parry», «Detect», and «Critical Hit». For healing, he relied on potions. This had caused him to die many times over the course of his grinding, but the speed at which he was able to dispatch enemies was worth the trade-off in his opinion.

The last type of Skill, Auxiliary Skills, encompassed everything else a player could do unrelated to combat. Unlike with Weapon Skills that restricted a player's equippable items and available Sword Arts, Auxiliary Skills did not stop a player from engaging in a particular activity. Without a skill like the aforementioned «Singing», players could still sing. However, with the skill, the system gave additional positive effects to both listeners and the singer depending on how good the performance was. Kirito's «Fishing» skill, despite only being at level 4, still gave his line bonus durability and slightly increased the value of any fish he caught if sold to an NPC vendor. There was no particular reason why he had chosen «Fishing» of all things; it was just what he happened to have equipped currently after swapping different Skills in and out of his exclusive Auxiliary Skill slot over the course of the closed beta.

At the moment, he was making use of said Skill, sitting on the edge of a lake on the tenth floor with a fishing rod in hand instead of his swords. He was taking a break from his usual activities of touring the different landscapes of Aincrad, reminiscing over the past month in the final hours of the beta. A gentle breeze ruffled his short black hair as he idly recast the line. His swords and cloak were nowhere to be seen, hidden inside his in-game inventory so that he would not be recognized by the other players who were roaming the floor. The lake was located right outside the town for the floor, which meant the density of monsters nearby was very low. Even if it weren't, Kirito was making use of his «Prestige Lv.1» Extra Skill to keep them away.

Extra Skills were a fourth, hidden category of Skills unlike the basic three that were awarded to players by the Cardinal System for accomplishing certain tasks. They did not take up a Skill slot in order to be active and could be freely switched on and off without any consequences. Kirito heard from a certain information broker that his «Prestige» Skill was one of three such Skills to be revealed so far. All the Extra Skill did was naturally repel monsters that were much lower level than him, but he had his suspicions about what might happen if he achieved Prestige with more Skills.

The second Extra Skill was «Martial Arts», first discovered and demonstrated in action by a male player named Ken. «Martial Arts» allowed the use of unique Sword Arts with one's bare fists. It was available from the start of the game and could be obtained by simply defeating any monster without using any items, including weapons. Most unarmed Sword Arts were pretty underwhelming, but they were notable in that almost all of them inflicted Stun, a temporary status condition that interrupted enemy actions.

In addition to the basic starting Skills of «Forging», «Alchemy», and other crafting professions present in most MMOs, more Skills were automatically generated by the Cardinal System governing the game's processes once any player showed interest and talent in an action not already categorized by a Skill in the system. Players could even petition for the creation of new Auxiliary Skills if they demonstrated enough talent in the action they wanted a Skill for. If their request was granted, they were given the third Extra Skill: «Creator». As of now, «Creator» was nothing more than a cosmetic Skill that functioned like a badge of honor. The more important aspect of Skill Creation was that players would be allowed to equip Skills they created as Extra Skills. Players who created multiple Skills would only have their first Skill given to them as an Extra Skill to prevent abuse of the Skill Creation System.

The fishing rod twitched as something tugged on the line. Kirito yanked on it with all of his character's strength, uncaring if the line broke or not, and was rewarded with a small carp flopping out of the water and into his waiting hands. Having never fished before in his life, this was the boy's only method of actually succeeding in his task.

"Oooh, nice form there, Ki-bou~"

He jumped and dropped the carp on the ground, where it began bouncing towards the shoreline. His mystery observer giggled at the way he frantically turned his head around, searching for where she was hidden. A moment later, he felt part of his body stop responding to his commands, a small yellow lightning-bolt symbol popping up under his health bar in the top-right corner of his field of view. He toppled over, unable to keep his balance.

"I thought ya might've gotten rid of «Detect» now that ya don't go nuts across the floors anymore, but aren't ya even a little worried ya might be PK'ed? This is the tenth floor, ya know."

"A-Argo…!" he ground out as he struggled to prop himself up without the right side of his body. He eventually made it to a sitting position, leaning slightly left to keep from falling.

"Hehehe, catch me if ya can, Ki-bou!"

Kirito's let himself drop to the ground to avoid another dart headed for his left shoulder. While on his back, his left hand manipulated his open Status screen with a speed that spoke of much practice, two swords appearing at his waist instead of on his back where they usually did. He wasted no time in drawing one, rolling over to dodge another dart headed for his working leg. Then, in an act that a real life swordsman would probably never attempt even in desperation, he tossed his sword with unerring accuracy, a blue streak of light following in its wake as he activated the Sword Art «Blade Toss».

"Waaah!"

A rather unfeminine yelp of surprise echoed from the space he'd thrown the sword at as the air distorted to reveal a girl with short, brown hair dressed in a yellow cloak with three whisker marks on her cheeks. The dart she'd readied was dropped when she dove out of the way of the sword flying at her.

"Who the heck throws a sword?! You don't throw swords!" she protested.

"If you can throw stuff at me, I can throw stuff at you!" Kirito responded, drawing his other one.

"Wait, Ki-bou! We can talk this over! Don't- Wah!"

Once again, the petite girl dove to the side as another sword sailed through the spot she'd previously occupied. She stared at the two swords embedded in the soil behind her and laughed triumphantly.

"Hah! What now! You don't have any more swords!"

Her celebration was cut short as she felt a tiny prick on her thigh.

"Eh?"

She looked down and saw one of her own darts sticking out of her left leg. She traced the flight path back to Kirito's outstretched hand before the familiar Paralysis icon popped up under her health bar and she too fell to the ground.

"…Well played, Ki-bou," she muttered reluctantly. Her downcast expression soon morphed into her usual mischievous grin. "So now that we're both not going anywhere, what's up?"

"Do you not know how to greet people properly?"

"Proper greetings are for people who pay me. Since I actually pay you for information, I get to mess with ya however I want!"

Kirito sighed.

The immobilized girl lying spread-eagle on the ground a few meters away was Argo the Rat, one of, if not the most prominent information broker in SAO. She made a name for herself very early on by being the first to offer information on hidden and advanced Skills, possibly being the first self-proclaimed info broker in the game. Kirito's initial encounter with her was after he cleared a randomly-generated dungeon on the fifth floor. She had been waiting outside for him, and offered to sell him information on how to upgrade his favored weapon, the Anneal Blade, past its current cap of +5 if he gave her everything he knew about the dungeon he'd just soloed.

From there, they met regularly, usually outside one dungeon or another as Kirito led the charge as the Eternal Monster Hunter through the next five floors. Each time, she would trade him information about some unexplored dungeon, obscure quest, or ideal grinding spot in return for information on his most recent exploits. No Cor was exchanged between them. Somewhere around the tenth such occurrence, he invited her to hang out with him casually. She had blinked and laughed at him before asking if he did what he did to pick up girls, making the teenage boy blush. She did agree to go grab a bite to eat with him though.

Food in-game was of course not a replacement for food in the real world, but the beauty of SAO was that its engine faithfully reproduced the taste and texture of the dishes the NPC and player chefs created. The minority of female beta testers were ecstatic when they discovered that they could eat as much as they wanted without any negative consequences, and many an aspiring chef working in NPC-owned restaurants happily satisfied their customers' appetites while also taking the opportunity to experiment with several different combinations of the infinitely-respawning ingredients in storage.

Kirito and Argo's outing garnered much attention since both were instantly recognizable. Kirito had achieved Prestige by now and had not bothered to unequip his two swords, and Argo's whiskers and cloak were her signature features that she always displayed in order for people seeking her services to be able to find her. That they were sitting together at a table sparked many rumors among the beta testers that they were collaborating, which made sense since one was the most prominent clearer, a term used to refer to the most aggressive frontline players who took on the floor bosses, and the other was the most prominent information broker. It naturally followed that much of the information sold by the Rat was probably taken straight from the horse's mouth, that horse being Kirito. Neither bothered to dispel the rumors since one of them didn't know how and the other was happy to have her legitimacy further reinforced.

About a week ago, their relationship transitioned from simple acquaintances bordering on friends to business partners who were also most definitely friends. Probably.

It all started when Argo paid Kirito a surprise visit one day while he was experimenting with the «Meditation» Skill. While he was in the middle of practicing with it, he noticed that a new presence registered with his «Detect» Skill, which had only recently reached level 50, revealing the existence of two advanced Skills linked to it. Advanced Skills always showed up in a player's list of available Skills as «?» until the player received information about the Skill somehow, usually through an NPC. When Kirito opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the presence he had sensed, he didn't see anything except a vague outline of a person. When Argo then leapt at him in one of her classic tackle hugs, he had sidestepped her smoothly, causing her to crash into the ground. His accidental, but successful detection of her while she was using the Skill revealed its name to him. This was how he found out she possessed «Stealth».

Argo tried to pass it off as a figment of his imagination at first, but she gave up once Kirito told her that he knew the Skill's name and that it was in his list of Skills as well. She quickly became distressed once she realized that if he knew she had «Stealth» then he must also have known about the other advanced Skill «Analyze», a slip-up that haunted her to this day. Upon being informed of the Skill, its information had populated his list instantly.

«Analyze» was a terrifying Combat Skill in a game where information was so closely guarded. Requiring levels in both «Detect» and «Appraisal», the Skill allowed its user to view any other player's avatar information, including name, equipment, and most importantly, Skills. In combination with «Stealth», which required levels in «Hiding» and «Detect», it was the perfect scouting tool and the secret to Argo's success. Nobody except Kirito knew that she was probably the only player who had somehow gotten the «Hiding», «Detect», and «Appraisal» Skills to over level 50 within a month, but his discovery was enough to unnerve the broker and cause her to propose a deal.

In return for keeping her secret, Argo agreed to keep all of his secrets as well, unless he let her sell the information, at which point she would pay him a portion of anything she made off of it. Kirito had countered with his own business proposal. In addition to keeping each other's secrets, he would provide her, and only her, with all the information he had in return for free access to her own information network. Part of the deal was that it would carry over to the actual game once it was released. She had thought it over carefully before finally agreeing only as long as he remained a prominent frontline clearer. Rather than shake on the deal, Argo had sealed it with a quick kiss on the cheek, shocking him into silence and making her giggle anew.

She was now a constant in his gaming life, having visited him at random intervals on a daily basis.

"In case you couldn't tell. I was fishing," Kirito said as he waited for the Paralysis to wear off.

"Mm. Boring. Ya sound like an old man, Ki-bou. Ya know what you need?"

"What?" he asked to humor her. He already knew what she was going to say.

"A girlfriend!" she proclaimed.

It was her most recent outlandish suggestion on a running list of things he should do, only half of which he had actually done. It had started off with fairly innocent things like going to a particular spot on this floor or more thoroughly exploring that dungeon and gradually transitioned into things like endorsing his own fan club or doing a low level dungeon run without any body gear equipped.

"Are you volunteering?" he teased back.

"Are you asking?" she sing-songed.

Kirito scoffed.

"I'm hurt, Ki-bou!" Argo replied theatrically. "How could you play with an innocent maiden's heart like that?"

"Tell me when you see the innocent maiden and I'll go apologize to her on your behalf."

"Geez. You'll never get a girl if ya act like that y'know?"

The status icon blinked and disappeared after a couple more seconds. Kirito hopped to his feet, only to be tackled back to the ground by his conversation partner. He was grateful that the sand of the lake wasn't actual sand, or else it would have gotten everywhere.

"How did you recover faster than me?" he asked the girl grinning at him.

"If anybody else asked, I'd charge them, but since it's you, I'll just give ya a hint. «Throwing Weapons»~"

 _That's not a hint so much as it is the answer…_

The Weapon Skill must confer some sort of bonus to the duration of status effects inflicted by the weapon type. Good to know in case he ever ran into someone else who used them. He tried to remember if any of the groups who tried to PK him ever used darts, but came up blank.

"Ki-bou."

"What?"

"Ya have a pretty girl on top of you. What are ya spacing out for?"

Kirito deadpanned at her and pried her arms off of him with his superior strength, before getting to his feet. Stats in SAO came in two flavors. There was STR, short for Strength, which determined raw power, and AGI, short for Agility, which determined speed. When a player leveled up, they received three points to allocate between these two stats. Kirito opted for a 2:1 STR to AGI ratio in the beta, but was strongly considering reversing the ratio for the actual game, while Argo went for an extreme 1:8 ratio since weapons like darts took little to no STR to actually wield, and the majority of their damage was dealt through the Poison status effect.

All other stats were hidden and presumably raised automatically as players leveled up. The only reason players knew they existed at all was due to the initial tutorial message all players received upon reaching level two. There was a rumor floating around that the Skills a player had equipped when they leveled up influenced how their hidden stats grew, but as there was no way to tell if this was actually the case with everyone at such low levels, it was nothing more than a rumor. Worth taking note of was that a player's HP, or Hit Points, representing their overall health, rose as they leveled up, but damage reduction was completely dependent on gear. Defensive gear offered resistances to certain damage types, but no player could truly become invincible.

Kirito was considered by the beta tester community as a whole as the most powerful solo player in the game, but others who played in small groups could and did PK, or Player Kill, him. The fact that he was able to rarely reverse-PK them back was a testament to his skill, but most of the time, if he was outnumbered, he was dead. As a level twenty player, it took lower level players much longer to kill him than it did for him to kill them, but he was still vulnerable due to two important facts.

First, all forms of healing in the game were stopped if one took damage, including potions, which regenerated health, and the automatic healing from Skills. Second, all entities taking a certain percentage of their max HP in damage or taking damage in their designated weak spots had their Sword Arts interrupted unless they had a Combat Skill that prevented it or were using an Art that could not be stopped. Player characters didn't have access to either option in the beta, and their entire bodies counted as weak spots, meaning anything more than a superficial cut cost Kirito the cooldown on his chosen Art. Being unable to reliably heal himself or execute Sword Arts, his prowess could only carry him so far.

"Ki-bou. Ya keep spacing out again. Do I have to throw something at ya to get yer attention?"

Kirito blinked and looked over to see Argo pouting at him.

"Sorry, Argo. What were you saying?"

"I asked ya if you were excited for the launch of the open beta."

The open beta. Unlike the closed beta, in which only a thousand people were allowed to participate, the open beta would be conducted over a similar one-month period and would be open to anyone who owned a NerveGear. This meant that as many as two hundred thousand people might log on to the game and try out its features. Kayaba Akihiko had already announced that of the ten thousand copies of SAO that would be sold upon release, a thousand were reserved for the closed beta, and a maximum of one thousand more to be given to any players of the open beta who "achieved noteworthy feats", not specifying exactly what these feats were. Also unlike the closed beta, the player level cap would be raised to one hundred and the experience curve would be rebalanced so that players would be expected to gain approximately ten levels per floor rather than one.

Everything else about the game would be kept the same, but information would continue to be suppressed. With as many as two hundred times the number of players, Kirito was a little skeptical about the company's chance of success, but at the same time, he supposed it was a clever marketing ploy to allow certain bits of information to escape in preparation for future pre-orders that would become available after the initial launch date.

"I would be more excited if we were allowed to participate."

"Meh, me too, but hey! We get our own server to mess around on in the meantime!"

"If only we didn't have to reset our characters. I get that with all the data they got from us, they have a lot of changes they plan on making to the game mechanics, but I'm not looking forward to grinding out my «One-Handed Sword» Skill again…"

"Just go beat on the bosses by yourself like ya did this time around. Ya might even solo one of the first ones!"

"Hah. Yeah, _that'll_ happen."

"Ya never know, Ki-bou. If anyone could do it, it'd probably be you," Argo remarked wryly. "I mean, who was it that almost soloed a quarter of the tenth floor boss? The first floor boss isn't anywhere near as hard, right?"

Kirito frowned at the memory. In one of his many grinding sessions when he was busy trying to level his newly-acquired «One-Handed Sword» Skills, he had indeed almost managed to knock off one of the boss' four HP bars before he had been abruptly killed by its retaliatory Sword Art. His tendency to solo bosses stemmed from the fact that Weapon Skills gained experience purely based on the amount of damage one dealt with their respective weapon types, and the floor bosses had the highest HP totals of any monster by far. To date, he'd never gotten close to completely killing a boss on his own.

"I suppose, if I got there early enough…"

"See? Now who's thinkin' about it?"

"I'll give it a shot, at least."

"And if ya win, I'm expecting you to spill the beans about there being a solo clear bonus!"

"I highly doubt one exists. At most, the Cardinal System might award me an Extra Skill or something."

"That's still something!"

He smiled at her enthusiasm.

"You know, if you're so eager, why don't you come with me? We can challenge the boss together."

"You need to work on your pick up lines, Ki-bou."

"I'm being serious, Argo. Why don't you ever fight bosses?"

"Well… I'm too delicate, ya know?"

"Too delicate to fight a boss, but not too delicate to ambush the strongest player in the game?"

"Wow, full o' yourself, ain'tcha?"

Argo tried to pull his head down low enough for her to wrap her arm around it, but with his STR, that wasn't happening. She just ended up awkwardly hanging off of him by one arm. Huffing irritably, she settled for jumping on his back. Kirito nearly stepped on his fishing rod as he took a couple of steadying steps forward.

"You're the one who keeps calling me that."

"When I say it, it's a fact. When you say it, it's bragging."

"Oh, is that how it is? I never knew."

"Yep."

They stared each other in the eye for a few seconds before they broke down in chuckles.

"In all seriousness, I expect ya to uphold yer reputation on the new server," Argo said, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"I'll do my best," Kirito replied.

"Good! Now, forward!" she commanded.

"Where to? And can I pick up my fishing rod? And my swords?"

"Town! And ya shouldn't have thrown them at me! Giddy up!"

He rolled his eyes at her and figured since the server would be shut down in a couple of hours anyway, he didn't really care if he left some of his items behind. He'd be starting anew soon enough. With that thought in mind, he obediently carried the girl on his back towards the nearby town. Halfway there, she crawled up his back and perched herself on his shoulders, something that was only made possible by her AGI and the fact that her avatar was so much smaller than his.

Kirito took it in stride, trying not to think about the two soft thighs now positioned on either side of his head. Why did the programmers feel the need to include the feeling of a girl's thighs, anyway? Thankfully, she took his mind off of her distracting body parts by chattering away at him about some random topic at a pace he couldn't hope to keep up with.

To be honest, Argo kind of reminded him of his sister, who was actually his cousin. Suguha used to do the same things to him as the brown-haired girl on his shoulders did. Kirito wondered what she was up to now that Kendo season was winding down. He felt a phantom pain in his left shoulder, but it quickly passed and was forgotten. He remembered seeing his cousin the other day hiding a bulky package behind her back, but when he asked her what it was, she completely avoided the question and ran away to her room. His mom had no idea what it was either, but did comment on how she seemed interested in what he had spent so much of the past month obsessed over.

"Ki-bou, you totally aren't listening to me, are ya?"

"Huh? Sorry, Argo. I spaced out."

"Why am I not surprised. Anyway, I was saying you should go ahead and Prestige yer Skills and see what happens. They're about to be reset anyway."

"I guess you're right."

He idly raised one hand and made a downward swiping motion, opening his Status screen which had closed itself automatically a few minutes earlier. He sifted through the pages until he reached his equipped Skills and tapped the Prestige option for both of his «One-Handed Sword» Skills. He confirmed his choice and waited along with Argo, who was staring down at the screen from her vantage point above. To their disappointment, all seemed to do was level his «Prestige Lv.1» Skill up to «Prestige Lv.3». It didn't even get any additional effects.

"Did it do anythin' else?"

"I've got four copies of «One-Handed Sword»."

"Boring."

"Maybe I need to reach a higher Prestige level for something to happen."

"Boooring."

"It's also possible using Prestige on the same Skill doesn't do anything after the first time."

"Ki-bou, yer doin' it again."

"Doing what?"

"Being the boring you. Go back to being the fun Ki-bou."

"…I don't know what to say to that."

"Ya don't have to say anything. Just do. Here, I'll help."

She squeezed her thighs around his head. He blushed immediately and began spluttering.

"Argo!"

"See? Now yer being funny again!"

…

Kirigaya Kazuto, online alias Kirito, stared at his Status screen in confusion. The open beta for the new VRMMO Sword Art Online, abbreviated as SAO, had just started at midnight yesterday, resetting all players' progress, or so it seemed. On the small holographic display in front of him were his three initial Skill slots, all empty. His inventory was also empty. His friends list, empty. His gear was all of the typical beginner stuff. His two visible stats were at the baseline total of one measly point each. He was level one, just like every other player logging in and appearing in the central plaza of the Town of Beginnings. But, as his fingers navigated through the familiar holographic display to his list of available Skills, he saw something that shouldn't have been there.

At the very top of the list, in bold, was the Extra Skill **«Prestige Lv.3»**.

* * *

 **New Skills:**

*Skill information listed in this section can be treated as omake content. Any important Skills will have their effects reiterated in the story proper.

**All Weapon Skill descriptions are the same, except for «Throwing Weapons». The basic description will be listed just once for «One-Handed Sword» and omitted for any future Skills besides «Throwing Weapons».

 **Weapon Skills**

«One-Handed Sword»: Allows the user to equip one weapon of the corresponding type and enables related Sword Arts. Level up to increase damage dealt and unlock new Sword Arts.

«Throwing Weapons»: Allows the user to equip one weapon of the corresponding type. Level up to increase resistance to and recovery rate of status ailments.

 **Combat Skills**

«Analyze»: Derivative of «Appraisal» and «Detect». Reveals various information about targeted entities. Level up to increase detail.

«Critical Hit»: Enables additional damage bonus when attacking weak spots. Level up to increase damage dealt to weak spots.

«Detect»: Reveals hidden entities and information about targets such as weak spots. Level up to increase detection rate and effective radius.

«First Aid»: Slowly restores a portion of HP from the most recent instance of damage as long as no damage is being taken. Level up to increase recovery amount and healing speed.

«Parry»: Allows the user to deflect blows from entities with greater strength or weight of arms. Level up to increase strength and weight bonus when parrying.

«Stealth»: Derivative of «Detect» and «Hiding». Visually conceals the user from other players and monsters after a period of immobility. Level up to reduce time lag before concealment and dampen all generated sound.

«Vitality»: Slowly restores HP after no damage has been taken for a certain period of time. Level up to increase recovery rate and reduce time lag before recovery begins.

 **Auxiliary Skills**

«Alchemy»: Enables the automated creation of potions and other consumables using a flask and various reagents. Level up to increase potency of created items and unlock new recipes.

«Appraisal»: Allows the user to identify unknown items. Level up to increase the variety of items that can be identified.

«Forging»: Enables the automated creation and enhancement of weapons and armor using a forge and various materials. Level up to increase potency of created items, boost success rate when enhancing, and unlock new recipes.

«Hiding»: Reduces likelihood of detection by monsters. Level up to decrease sound generated by movement.

«Singing»: Allows the user to confer positive effects (buffs) to allies and negative effects (debuffs) to enemies using the power of song. Level up to increase effective radius, boost potency and duration of buffs and debuffs, and unlock new effects.

 **Extra Skills**

«Creator»: Thank you for contributing to _Sword Art Online_! (Cannot be leveled up.)

«Prestige (Kirito)»: Your reputation precedes you. Repels lower level monsters, but attracts higher level monsters.

«Martial Arts»: Enables unarmed Sword Arts. Level up to increase damage dealt while unarmed and unlock new Sword Arts.

* * *

 **A/N:** Check my profile for regular status updates. Rated M for adult themes, including but not limited to language, nudity, and implied sexual activity.

As far as the timeline is concerned, everything takes place four years later than in canon. The closed beta ends on May 31 instead of August 31. The full launch of the game takes place on August 6 instead of November 6. Dates are only important for specific holidays and birthdays, so you won't be seeing timestamps. Complete AU from the very beginning, though I'll be borrowing aspects of canon events for convenience to introduce characters.

Extra Skills and Outside System Skills in canon have been reclassified. The term "Outside System Skill" is never used. Truly "Unique" Skills do not exist, though some Skills are limited to a certain number of individuals. Knowledge of the changing mechanics of the game itself are a large part of the story, but anything important is reiterated often enough you will never be lost.

* * *

Next chapter: «A New Beginning»! The stakes are set, new friendships are made, and Beaters are condemned… or are they?


	2. Ch1 - A New Beginning

**Chapter 1 – A New Beginning**

* * *

 **Floor 1**

 _Death game? Don't make me laugh._

The whisper from a nearby player struck a sour chord within him. Kirito glared at the red sky long after the menacing figure of the Game Master vanished from it, the multiple news screens vanishing one by one with the red hexagons until he could see nothing but the white marble base of the floor above. All around him, mirrors shattered as they hit the floor, the people holding them staring in shock at each other as one-by-one, everybody's carefully-crafted avatar characters faded away to reveal their true selves, their real life bodies faithfully reproduced by the game engine of SAO.

"Ki-bou…"

"We don't know if it's telling the truth, but there's no reason to leave anything up to chance. Are you coming with me?"

"I… I don't know if I can, Ki-bou. I have a friend who's new…"

"Then she can come with us too," Kirito interrupted. "But we don't have time. Resources aren't exactly limited since this is an online game, but I don't want to risk competing with other players."

"She won't be able to keep up. We both know yer a much better player than even me. We'd just hold you back."

"I don't care!"

Argo smiled wistfully at him, and he knew she had made up her mind.

"See? I knew ya liked me," she teased. "Yer a good person at heart, Kazuto. Now, go and do what ya gotta do. And don't let me hear that ya went and died, okay! I better not see yer name crossed out on the Monument!" She broke away from his weakening grip and gave him a thumbs-up. "Keep in touch, okay? I'll come see ya as soon as I can, but it… it may be a while."

"Argo…" he choked out, his voice cracking. For once, he didn't complain that she had tricked him into revealing his real name without returning the favor.

"Don't you go crying, too! Yer gonna make me cry…" the mousy-haired girl rubbed at her eyes. "Just get goin' already! And, hey… I always did like yer real appearance more. Makes ya look more honest, even if ya are kinda girly."

Kirito couldn't even muster the strength to get angry at her. Before he could reply, she was gone, lost in the chaos of the crowd. His arm fell to his side. He looked down at his feet, ignoring the way his vision blurred. He wanted to follow her, his only friend in the game, the only other person he knew, but his experience with the game told him that was a horrible idea. He would be much more helpful to her if he got strong. Stronger than anybody else. Then, he could return to her and keep her safe. Her and her friend and anyone else he wanted to. He would never lose to anyone ever again.

"…'Do what I gotta do', huh."

When he raised his head again, his eyes had hardened. He turned around and began running. Since he was only level one, it took him several precious minutes to reach the edge of the Town of Beginnings. The open plains outside the town's walls suddenly seemed like they were closed off. The sky wasn't as inviting as it was when he first logged in just under an hour ago. Without hesitation, he dashed off down the path to small town nearby.

None of the towns other than the main town of each floor had names, but he remembered this one. The first hour of the game had been spent searching for the NPC cartographer in the Town of Beginnings and spending what little starting money he had on a map of the 1st Floor to see if it matched the either of the betas. The developer had sprung a surprise when the open beta started, redesigning every single one of the first ten floors. The NPCs and quests had also been changed, although most were just relocated.

Fortunately, the same had not happened this time around, and the layout seemed identical to the open beta. This, combined with the familiar monster spawns, meant that in all likelihood, at least some of the information gathered in the second round of beta testing was still accurate. Kirito was hoping one quest in particular was still in the same place. The reward would set him up nicely for the first few floors.

As he ran, he opened his in-game Status menu. The change to the level cap had also changed the way Skill slots were gained. Instead of getting one every ten levels, players now had to reach the cap just to get one additional slot. The option to Prestige one's own character was not available in the beta, but he knew it was supposed to be a feature. How else were players supposed to customize their Skills? Kayaba Akihiko might have been certifiably insane, but a bad game designer he was not. Kirito could only hope that using Prestige did not mean restarting from level one with the same base stats every time.

He turned his attention back to his Status screen, navigating to his Skills. He had already picked his starting three, but with the added risk of death, starting with «Detect» was no longer feasible over something that might assist him with healing, speed up his monster kills, or give him access to much more useful Skills later on. Since he had not leveled any of his Skills yet, now was the time to replace them. He swapped «Detect» for «Critical Hit». He would need to level «Detect» later to actually identify weak points until he got the upgraded «Vital Point Piercing», but with knowledge from the beta and a little common sense, most monsters would give him little trouble.

Case in point: the wolf currently charging at him. Most monsters resembling animals shared weak points with their real life counterparts. Kirito calmly drew his sword mid-dash and didn't even bother to dodge the jaws of the wolf as they tried to close around one of his legs. Now was as good a time as any. He spun on his heel and kicked the beast in the side of the head, inflicting Stun on it. There were many things to be praised about SAO, but the realism it imparted to combat without Sword Arts was definitely one of its highest points. He swapped «Carpentry» for the widely-regarded as useless «Mercy» Auxiliary Skill, one of the only Auxiliary Skills with a combat-oriented effect. Building his own house could wait.

What he had in mind would require some effort at level one, but he knew from experience that it was possible. It was one of the first things he did in the exclusive server for closed beta testers during the open beta. With the extra stat points he had thanks to his semi-unique Extra Skill, it would be even easier than last time.

The sword in his hand descended on the wolf, pommel first. The Sword Art «Bash» activated and covered his hand in an orange glow. As long as the blade didn't make contact, everything was fine. The wolf lost over half of its HP instantly and was left Stunned once more. Kirito reared his right leg back. When he felt the system start to move him, he followed through and activated «Drop Kick», punting the wolf much farther into the sky than should have been physically possible. A sliver of HP was left in its health bar.

 _And now…!_

He unequipped his sword and also swapped «Mercy» for «Hunting». Right before the wolf fell to the ground and lost the rest of its health to fall damage, Kirito caught it midair with a straight punch that shattered it into multiple polygons. A system notification popped up in the middle of his field of view.

 **Gained 2 experience points. Obtained Wolf Pelt x1.**

And below it:

 **«Martial Arts» unlocked.**

Perfect.

…

There she was, the kindly old lady NPC who wanted Wolf Pelts. Usually, NPCs with quests had big yellow exclamation marks floating above their heads and actively sought assistance from nearby players. Hers was one of the many unmarked quests in the game, meant to reward those that paid attention to the world around them.

Several NPCs in the Town of Beginnings would mention a nearby village that had trouble with wolves attacking their sheep. Those same NPCs, when prompted, would happily point players in the direction of said village, suggesting that they slay any wolves that appeared on the way there. If a player listened to these NPCs and then took the road to the next village from the gate closest to it, they would always come across the right amount of wolves with a guaranteed drop of one Wolf Pelt each, and the old lady would meet them at the gate and ask for the pelts outright.

The only way to start the quest early was to gather the pelts using the «Hunting» Auxiliary Skill, offer them to the NPC as a trade, and accept nothing in return. Doing so skipped an entire backtracking portion where the old lady asked players to find the NPC that had originally told them about the problem.

"Thank you, young man! Truth be told, there's one wolf in particular that we've been having a lot of trouble with…" the old lady admitted.

"Where is it?" Kirito asked impatiently.

"Why, it lives in its den right outside of town in the nearby forest! We hear it growling all the time when we draw near, and it always frightens us so!"

"I'll take care of it. I won't accept a reward."

He didn't bother to stick around to hear what else the old lady had to say. All he needed to do was verbally agree to slay the beast after hearing about its den in the forest. Sure enough, as soon as he ran out of the village gates and got close to the tree line, he heard growling. Before he ventured into the forest, he was careful to unequip the «Hunting» Skill, replacing it with his signature «Solo» Skill. Carrying the former into the coming encounter would alert the wolf to the player's presence and make it more powerful.

It didn't take him long to locate the larger-than-average Dire Wolf. Its red eyes glared menacingly from the darkness, darting back and forth as it searched for the foreign presence in its den. Kirito knew to wait until it began sniffing at the ground to attack, or else it would lock on to him immediately and summon allies. His earlier wolf-slaying had barely been enough to get him to level 2, and the Dire Wolf was a level 6 monster in the beta. Its smaller Dire Wolf minions were level 3. By all rights, this was a quest he was destined to fail. But he had an ace up his sleeve. Several, actually.

The month-long open beta period had not been any longer than the closed beta, but Kirito had gone into it more prepared from day one. To date, he was the only known player to have soloed not one, but two floor bosses, having slain both the first and second floor bosses by his lonesome. His reward for doing so?

«Exceed». An Extra Skill bestowed upon him by the Cardinal System for accomplishing a task thought impossible by even the game's programmer. It alone was the only known Skill that was impossible to be discovered among a player's active Skills, also conferring that ability to other Skills with "Prestige" in their names. One of its effects was that it would never be removed, meaning that it carried over from the beta like all «Prestige» Skills. Its full effects were unknown since the description had already changed itself twice from its initial blank state, but the two effects that were listed were already powerful enough.

1\. The user gains one bonus stat point for every level of «Prestige» he or she attains.

2\. The user may equip all «Prestige» Skills as Extra Skills.

Many questions about the Prestige System had been answered during the open beta, though only those who played on the exclusive server were privy to the information. The biggest questions were: was a non-Weapon Skill eligible for Prestige? If so, what happened? Just as before, one month was not long enough to Prestige the vast majority of the non-Weapon Skills, but there were exceptions made possible by the fact that it was the second pass. By dedicating the entire month to grinding it, Kirito had managed to Prestige again not one, but two Skills only someone like he could have. Those two Skills were «Predict» and «Art Chain». Upon maxing them, he had chosen to Prestige and was rewarded with «Prestige: Predict» and «Prestige: Art Chain». They were functionally the same as the originals, with one important difference. They no longer lost levels if unequipped, though they also gained levels much, much slower. Even now, Kirito had «Predict Lv.5» and «Art Chain Lv.3» among his Extra Skills.

Kirito spent upwards of four weeks in the closed beta doing nothing but slaying monsters. He spent the first week with a random assortment of Combat Skills that he thought were the most useful. After his association with Argo, she had looked over his Skills list and berated him for passing over some of the better Skills in the game for his playstyle. With the discovery that his «Prestige» Skill had carried over, she had immediately demanded that he follow her instructions to the letter, and he did. Gone were «Parry», «Detect», and «Critical Hit». In their place, he used «Predict», «Momentum», and «Art Chain». His lone Auxiliary Skill was «Solo», a Skill added to the game by the Cardinal System for him after he petitioned for its creation. The reason he equipped it in a Skill slot rather than as an Extra Skill was because he had actually created another Skill at Argo's behest. His Extra Skill was «Pioneering».

Though the game already had an Extra Skill called «Exploring» and another called «Inventing», Kirito's creation of the «Pioneering» Auxiliary Skill was recognized by the system as being a unique categorization of his accomplishments for being the first to do many things both known and unknown to the wider playerbase. Thus, the Skill gave him a choice between several bonuses every time he was the first to do something out of all of the players. The system was also smart, so while he could be the first to swap ten skills, then eleven, then twelve and so on, he would only receive a reward for the first achievement. At the Skill's current level of one, it only gave him a measly ten-percent bonus to experience points from his next kill, but as he pioneered more things, it would expand the available pool of rewards, along with the quality of those rewards.

But that was all unimportant at the moment. All that mattered now was that the Dire Wolf had finally lowered its muzzle to the ground. Kirito sprang into action, activating «Sonic Leap» after stepping out from behind a tree. His trajectory caused the blade to bite deeply into the large wolf's flank, slicing a bright red line across it and causing polygons to leak out like blood.

A roar of pain rang through the small clearing, but Kirito ignored it in favor of starting his next Art. With «One-Handed Sword Lv.1», he didn't have many options, but «Vertical», «Horizontal», and «Slant», the three basic directional slashes, conveniently transitioned into each other rather smoothly. He struck out with each in turn before activating «Sonic Leap» again to create some distance. «Art Chain»'s side effect froze him in place for several seconds, the combined amount of time he would have been stuck if he had used each Sword Art separately, since he used an Art more than once in a chain. As he was vulnerable, the Dire Wolf summoned help in the form of two more, smaller Dire Wolves. As one, the trio of beasts charged at him.

Kirito lamented the fact that the experience curve for all Skills seemed to have been increased for the main game. «Horizontal Square» would have been nice right about now. Heck, anything more than the basic single-hit Arts he had would be nice. A quick flick of his wrist discouraged one small wolf from its attack, but did nothing to deter the two others. «Critical Hit» boosted his damage as he sidestepped the other small wolf and ran his sword through its skull, but he found his left arm clenched in the jaws of the larger Dire Wolf. Said wolf shook its head viciously, throwing Kirito back and forth like a ragdoll and dropping his HP to the halfway mark, but a quick «Bash» Stunned it long enough for him to free his arm. Meanwhile, the smaller wolf he had originally warded off jumped at him from behind. Like he had eyes in the back of his head, Kirito dove to the side in a roll to avoid it.

He saw the glow of light signifying a Sword Art and hurriedly backed away. A moment later, the larger Dire Wolf executed its own «Sonic Leap» and was met with a «Horizontal» to the face, abruptly ending its Art. The smaller wolf tried to follow suit, but found its path blocked by the body of its larger brethren when Kirito used «Drop Kick» to launch one wolf into another. His tactic succeeded, sending both remaining wolves sprawling.

The stopper of a healing potion was carelessly spat on the ground as Kirito downed its contents at record speed. He eyed the monsters warily, making sure to keep track of their movements as they started pacing in opposite directions to try and attack him from both sides. The Lv.3 Dire Wolf had more than three-quarters of its health left, having only been damaged by the collision with its kin. The Lv.6 Dire Wolf had about a third of its own HP bar left. If he had a better weapon, it would be dead by now. Alas, the quest he was on was supposed to provide him with said weapon, so complaining about it was rather pointless.

He readied himself to meet their next assault. Backing to the edge of the clearing would have caused the wolves enter the forest, making the fight much harder, so Kirito instead took up position in the middle, facing the mini-boss of the quest. If he killed the remaining small wolf, the larger one would just summon more, with one additional wolf showing up every time it called for allies. While continuously killing the weaker wolves was a valid grinding tactic back in the beta, it was reserved only for those who could handle multiple enemies at once, meaning mostly groups. Even back when the beta started anew, Kirito hadn't dared try and grind the quest boss' minions on his own. The risk of being overwhelmed wasn't worth it.

His «Predict» Skill failed him as he felt the wolf behind him latch onto one of his legs, but he ignored it in favor of tracking the Dire Wolf in front of him as it drew nearer. Once it was within range, Kirito raised his sword to meet its jaws, successfully deflecting them to the side. If he had «Parry Lv.1» equipped, he would have dealt bonus damage with his next Sword Art to the target as well as possibly Stunned it for good measure, but he didn't. Still, that didn't mean he didn't have other options. His fist lashed out with a quick «Jab», striking the wolf in the face. He then chained it into «Haymaker», the only other Sword Art «Martial Arts Lv.1» gave him access to. It was enough to send the wolf reeling backwards.

Waiting for the vulnerability state to end as one wolf continued to gnaw on his leg, Kirito smiled. Even in this life-or-death situation, SAO still managed to be fun. In what other game could you punch a wolf the size of a small bed in the face and actually launch it backwards? Once he was free to move again, he plunged his sword into the body of the wolf using his leg as a chew toy. It wasn't a weak point, and it wasn't a Sword Art, but it freed him, and that's all he needed. The wolf vanished into the background as Kirito activated «Sonic Leap» once more. His strike landed on the opposite flank as he had initially slashed open, scoring an identical mark on the boss Dire Wolf's other side. He followed up with one last sequence of «Horizontal», «Slant», and «Vertical», finishing with another «Slant».

He watched as the wolf's HP hit zero as it shattered to pieces, floating away in a nonexistent breeze. He could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins even though it was supposed to be just an online game. It felt so real.

 **Congratulations! You have leveled up to 3!**

 **Congratulations! «One-Handed Sword» has leveled up to 2!**

 **Congratulations! «Solo» has leveled up to 2!**

A stream of notifications filled his vision, but he swiped them aside as soon as he was able. He had to remember to change the settings later. The last wolf was growling at him as menacingly as possible, but he found it difficult to care. He prepped himself one last time as the wolf attacked him the only way it knew how. Its forward lunge was met with sharp steel as a «Slant» cut cleanly across its face, followed by a «Horizontal» to finish it off. He didn't even look at the experience points and drops, opting instead to edit the system message settings before he forgot.

Satisfied with his changes, Kirito made his way back to the village to pick up his Anneal Blade.

…

Almost two weeks later, Kirito walked through the Town of Beginnings, noting the despondent looks on many players' faces as he passed by. Twelve days, and only now had the boss room been discovered in the depths of the nearby mountain range. It was the only difference from the beta that he had found so far. The mountains were home to the toughest monsters on the floor, monsters that were actually a full five levels above every other monster on the floor. They were supposed to be part of a tutorial quest to teach players not to get in over their heads, which was the reason he had not thought to check there earlier, instead scouring the rest of the floor.

News that someone else had braved the mountains reached his ears from town the day prior while he was staying in a remote village on the outskirts of the floor. He had to rush to make it in time for the meeting that was announced a couple of days in advance to allow for the information to circulate properly. He secretly hoped he would find Argo there, as the two of them had somehow been unable to find each other after they separated. His friend was apparently not openly peddling information just yet, though he had heard whispers about "the Rat" making her return every so often. The private messaging function was locked for players who had not yet reached level 10, so Kirito could not contact her even though he had managed to pass the required level already.

In time, he arrived at the small plaza reserved for the first boss meeting since they had been trapped in SAO. His quick survey of the gathered players was disappointing in more ways than one. None of them looked particularly strong except for a bare handful, and there couldn't have been more than a hundred people there out of the ten thousand players trapped in the game, a fraction of a percent of the overall population. He also didn't see Argo, though there were three hooded figures in the crowd. He tensed.

 _Three hooded figures… It can't be…!_

Kirito calmed himself. Closer examination revealed that only one of them was male. Another was too tall to be the petite girl he sought. He met eyes with taller girl, but she quickly looked away, her face hidden behind a veil of chestnut-colored hair. The remaining figure had long black hair bordering on purple, disqualifying her from being Argo unless the other girl had decided to use hair dye.

Slightly disheartened, Kirito sat down in an empty spot near the top of the auditorium-like steps leading down to the plaza's center and waited patiently for the meeting to begin. He didn't wait long.

A blue-haired man stood up from the front row of the audience, gesturing for the smaller hooded girl to join him. The girl shook her head wildly, and the man laughed mildly before nodding in acceptance. Other conversations quieted as the man cleared his throat and met eyes with each of the audience members in turn. When he got to Kirito, he blinked once before nodding imperceptibly. Kirito blinked and nodded in return, but internally wracked his brain to try and put a name to the face in front of him. It was always possible that his avatar looked nothing like what he did in real life, but something about him seemed familiar. After a couple of minutes of silence, the man finally spoke up.

"Hello! And thank you for coming! My name is…"

"… _Diavel! I like to consider myself a Knight!" the enthusiastic man proclaimed._

" _Player classes don't exist in this game!" one of the other clearers jeered, clearly joking with him._

" _Yes, well, that won't stop me! I'll uphold the code of chivalry even if I have to do it all on my own! Hahaha!"_

 _He laughed for a long time. His was a boisterous laugh, the sort of laughter that made you naturally want to join in even if you had no idea what everyone was laughing about. It made you not care even if the joke was on you._

Kirito snapped to attention as the scene in front of him distorted from his memories. A man with spiky brown hair was standing up and pointing at Diavel accusingly.

"You left us to die! I won't follow you!"

Diavel wore a resigned smile, his arms raised in surrender. The people around the spiky-haired man were nodding in agreement with his words, shooting spiteful glances at the surrounding audience members.

"I bet there are more of you beta testers out there too! C'mon, show yourselves! All of you are to blame for the people who have died over the past two weeks!"

"Kibaou-san, please calm down."

"No!" Kibaou shouted in response. "It's people like you who deserve to die! Where were you when all of us newbies were stuck in this town, not knowing what to do?!"

He advanced down the plaza steps until he reached Diavel, drawing his weapon as he did so. The man he threatened with it stared at him coolly, unaffected by the blade of the axe in his face.

"Kibaou-san, you know that violence is not permitted in the Town of Beginnings. I will not report you for harassment, but please step back."

"I challenge you to a duel, you prick! You and the others think you're so high and mighty! Well, fuck you! I'm level 10! I've got my «One-Handed Axe» Skill to 3! What've you got?! Huh?!"

Kirito facepalmed. Spikes-for-brains just gave his future opponent all the information he needed to formulate a counterplan, not that there was much to do by way of countering since everyone was still so low level and restricted to one skill of each type. Diavel continued to try the diplomatic approach.

"Kibaou-san, with respect, I am also level 10, and my own «One-Handed Sword» Skill is at 4. In addition, as you have pointed out, I am a beta tester. Do you really think that challenging me is wise?"

"There you go again! Fuck you and fuck all you beta testers!"

Kibaou attempted to shove the other man, but was repelled by a system barrier. He raised his axe and tried to smash it with a Sword Art, but only succeeded in causing the system to throw him back with even greater force.

"Kibaou-san, please stop."

"Shut up! SHUT UP! I challenge you! I challenge you, Goddammit!"

It was disturbing watching a grown man throw a tantrum. Diavel also seemed to be at a loss as to what to do about the man that kept throwing himself into the purple warning barrier generated by the system. Even though players could not take damage inside of designated safe zones like towns, it was still disorienting to be thrown around like the spiky-haired man was currently doing. What's worse, the man's friends were getting worked up into a frenzy by the way Diavel wasn't reacting to Kibaou's provocations. Surprisingly, he was interrupted by a female voice.

"Enough already. You're just embarrassing yourself."

"What was that! Say that again, I dare you!" Kibaou shouted, looking around for whoever had spoken.

The shorter hooded girl sighed loudly before standing up.

"I said, you're embarrassing. Quit being a baby and grow up already."

"You! Who do you think you are?!"

"If it matters, I'm a beta tester too. Are you gonna challenge me to a duel?"

Kibaou's face turned a shade of red Kirito didn't know the game supported.

"YES! I CHALLENGE YOU! FUCKING WHORE!"

The plaza went silent. Even Kibaou's friends were taken aback by the man's vehemence towards the girl in the hooded cloak. Kirito saw the ghost of a smirk on the girl's lips.

"Alright, I accept. I was getting bored anyway."

She skipped to the center of the plaza and bowed to Kibaou before pulling off her cloak in one smooth motion. Kirito almost jumped to his feet. Standing in the center of the plaza was the only other player who possessed «Exceed», having been awarded it for the achievement of going the entire beta period undefeated in the PvP arena despite fighting over a thousand matches in total. Even he was unsure of his chances of victory against the petite teenage girl smiling cheekily at her would-be opponent.

"My name's Yuuki! Konno Yuuki!" she chirped happily.

"YER GONNA BE DEAD ONCE I'M DONE WITH YOU!"

"Geez. You're a feisty one, aren'tcha? Well, I'm ready when you are!"

Kirito saw the small duel notification pop up in front of Kibaou for a second before he angrily smashed the "accept" button, readying his axe. Several of his friends had made their way to the front and were trying to talk some sense into him, alarmed by the fact that it was a duel to critical HP that the man had just accepted, but he ignored them all. Kirito made his own way to the center of the plaza, taking a more roundabout route to the bottom utilizing his AGI. He made it in time to hear Diavel ask the person they both knew as Zekken back in the beta a question.

"Konno-san, are you sure?"

"SHUT UP! YOU STAY OUTTA THIS!"

The girl giggled, infuriating Kibaou more as the thirty-second timer ticked down to zero.

"Yeah, don't worry! What am I gonna use my Aux Skill slot for, anyway? «Solo»'s more that Super MonHun guy's thing."

Kirito suppressed a groan at the nickname the girl had developed for him out of the blue one day. Somehow, it had caught on over his equally bad but slightly less embarrassing nickname in the final days of the open beta period and had leaked onto the Internet, so now most of the gaming world knew him as "that Super MonHun guy".

"Still, you just gained a level in «Medicine». To give that up with the new experience curve…"

"Eh, I've got it Prest- uh, I mean, I can just Prestige it again later! No biggie! One level isn't that big a deal!"

The timer ticked down to five seconds.

"Anyway, I gotta focus now, so I'll talk to you in a bit, 'kay?"

Her hands moved in a blur, swiftly bringing up her Skill menu and replacing «Medicine» with «Mercy». If he hadn't been focused on exactly where he knew the names of her Skills would pop up, Kirito would have missed them. The timer reached zero just as she reached for the sword strapped to her back, something she copied from the person standing at the edge of the bottom plaza level watching her.

Kibaou rushed forward, his axe held high above his head in preparation for a «Vertical». In response, Yuuki stood casually in her spot until he got close enough. There was no glow that signified the activation of a Sword Art. Rather, most of the audience didn't realize that a Sword Art had even been executed. Only the scant few closed beta testers present knew the true terror behind Yuuki's Sword Arts. They were actions allowed to her by the Combat Skill «Freeform», a Skill she was well-known for taking to its absolute limits the same way Kirito had eventually become known for his mastery of «Art Chain».

Where «Art Chain» allowed a user to chain all of his or her Sword Arts together in sequence regardless of cooldown periods and save their combined vulnerability state for the end, «Freeform» removed the vulnerability state from all Sword Arts in exchange for also removing the system assist feature. Users were rendered unable to use system-assisted motion to execute Sword Arts. This had the unintended side effect of removing the starting motions as well, allowing any Sword Art to be executed from any stance, but since Kayaba Akihiko felt the effect was fitting, he left it in.

It was rumored that if someone were to master both «Art Chain» and «Freeform», they would become truly unbeatable, but many had tried, and failed, to do so. The issue was not one of actual player skill but instead in how each Skill was designed to gain experience. «Art Chain» gained experience each time a cooldown was skipped from its effects. «Freeform» gained experience each time a vulnerability period was skipped from its effects. If both were equipped, neither gained experience. Since Kirito and Yuuki each owned Prestige versions of their respective Skills, they were the only ones eligible to use both simultaneously, but they opted to max out their Prestige Skills first.

Kibaou stared at his health bar in disbelief. The display told him he had 1 HP left.

 **Winner: Konno Yuuki!**

"Hehe! Maybe next time, old man!"

She was about to celebrate with Diavel, but was stopped by Kibaou standing in her way.

"What the hell! You cheated! Fucking cheater!"

"Aw, quit being such a sore loser already."

"You…!"

"Ah, am I late?"

The new arrival caused a momentary halt in hostilities. Kirito perked up and eagerly looked up at one of the entrances to the plaza, seeing the familiar whisker marks on the newcomer's cheeks immediately.

"What'samatter? Did the meeting start or not?"

"Argo! Hi!" Yuuki yelled up at her.

"Oh! Hiya, Yuki-chan. How're you?"

"Good!"

"Mm! Good, good! So, about that meeting…"

"Another one! ANOTHER ONE!" Kibaou shouted feverishly.

Argo blinked in confusion and looked around in an exaggerated manner. She stopped and pointed to herself.

"Are you talkin' to me? 'Cause I'm sorry, but Iunno who ya are. Were you a client o' mine at some point?"

"YOU'RE A BETA TESTER TOO, AREN'T YOU?!"

Kirito stifled a laugh at the "Are you stupid?" look that crossed his friend's face. Argo had a way of making people who did stupid things around her feel like the dumbest people to have ever lived. He knew from experience. Kibaou was not completely immune, since his expression of utter hatred had a sheepish undertone to it after he was exposed to the look for almost half a minute straight.

"What?! You got something to say?!" he demanded heatedly. "Don't just sit there, all judging and shit!"

Argo sighed loudly and pointedly.

"…So, about that meeting."

"DON'T IGNORE ME!"

"Alright, alright, fine. I heard ya the first time, cactus-man. What's yer deal?"

"CACTUS-MAN?!"

"He's being a sore loser," Yuuki supplied helpfully.

"Oh is he now? Did he actually challenge you?"

"Yep!"

Yuuki's enthusiastic reply got a wry smile from all of the beta testers who knew the chipper girl had spent the last couple of days depressed since nobody bothered to challenge her anymore. When she was sad, everyone was sad. She radiated an aura of "abandoned puppy sad" that affected the entire server like a magical spell. Kirito had weighed the pros and cons of revealing his avatar's name to the world at large just to get the girl to smile again.

The issue was circumvented when Argo marched up to her and just invited her to tag along on a dungeon excursion before passing her off to Kirito. He remembered how she had spent the entire day talking his ear off and asking him all manner of questions, most of which he answered honestly. Their one-day association had been enough to earn 'Super MonHon guy' the gratitude of the entire closed beta testing community for cheering up their mascot. It was almost enough to make up for the fact that Argo had given her his name before leaving the two of them alone in a dungeon. Almost.

"Well then he deserved it, obviously."

"FUCK YOU! YOU BETA TESTERS-"

"Beta tester this, beta tester that. I've heard it all before, so don't bother. Ya wanna know what beta testers did for you? Look no further than the girl in front of you!"

Kibaou and his friends looked at Yuuki, who held up a peace sign. Before anyone could explode again, Argo went on.

"That Beginner's Guide ya'll got from every vendor in town? The combat portion? Written by her and yours truly. Yer welcome, by the way. The dungeons part? Written by the girly-looking guy hiding over there."

"Hey!" Kirito protested, inadvertently drawing even more attention to himself. He glared balefully at Argo, who just smiled unrepentantly back at him. He almost missed the way Yuuki was muttering to herself.

"Dungeons part…? But that was written by Kirito. Kirito? Wait, you're Kirito? You're the Monhmmph?"

The others stared at the black-haired teenager that had just dashed across the plaza and now had his hand pressed over Yuuki's mouth.

"Don't. Please," he pleaded.

The girl blinked at him cutely a couple of times and nodded rapidly in acceptance. He sighed and removed his hand, only to be suffocated in a hug a moment later. How much STR did this girl have? Oh wait, «Exceed».

"Kirito! Hi! Why didn't you say something sooner! I barely even recognize you!"

Despite his utter stupidity in most areas, Kibaou's brain apparently functioned enough to put two and two together.

"ANOTHER ONE?!"

"Oh great, here we go again," Argo grumbled. "We just shut him up, too."

"Kibaou-san, please… This meeting was supposed to help us clear the first floor," Diavel tried again.

"Can we just gag him?"

Everyone turned to stare at Yuuki.

"What?" she asked innocently. "It works, doesn't it?"

"…Does anyone have a gag?"

"Argo-san!" Diavel cried indignantly.

"What? If it works, it works!"

"Argo!"

"Relax, Ki-bou. I was only kidding. Mostly." At his deadpan stare, she had the decency to look slightly cowed. "Alright, fine. I was totally gonna do it if someone gave me the chance. Ya happy now?"

Kibaou was on the verge of going nuclear until someone else stood up and cleared his throat. The hulking giant of a black man who calmly made his way over to the much shorter man had a stern expression on his face. When he spoke, his voice was low and gravelly.

"My name is Agil, short for Andrew Gilbert Mills," he introduced himself. "You're Kibaou… right?"

"Y-yes. What? You wanna go? I-I'll take you on! I'm not scared!"

"There's no need for that. As Argo-san said, if you are truly angry at beta testers for leaving you behind, then you need look no further than the free booklet offered to all players. The same booklet was distributed at the gates every day from sunrise until sunset and even later for the past week and a half. What else would you have them do?"

"Th-they should have stayed and guided us personally! It was their duty to keep us alive, as the more experienced ones!"

"No player could have stopped the others from committing suicide in the middle of the night, and all of the other confirmed deaths recorded on the Monument were beta testers who risked their lives to locate the boss room for those who stayed behind. To give them hope. If you had attended the funeral services, you would know this," the much larger man retorted in a gentle voice that was at odds with his appearance.

Kibaou winced.

"That… that's a lie! There's no way that all of the deaths were from beta testers! There's more than two thousand names crossed out! Everyone knows only two thousand copies were given to beta testers!"

"My patience is running thin, Kibaou-san. I never said that everyone who died was a beta tester. Of the 2,129 deaths, almost one thousand were confirmed suicides. Some even left notes or told others of what they planned to do. Of the remaining deaths, several hundred died on the first day before anyone could have possibly helped them, and about three hundred hundred more are unconfirmed. The remaining one hundred or so were beta testers."

"So beta testers make up the minority! Of course they do! They look down on us from-"

"ENOUGH!" Agil roared. "You stand there and mock their sacrifice! What have you done to help us?! I run a shop that sells equipment and materials at cost to new players! I give free packages to those who were scammed by the scum of the earth who would dare to take advantage of others in a time like this!"

The man's tirade didn't stop even as he stepped up to Kibaou and towered over the much shorter and smaller man. All of the spiky-haired man's friends deserted him, though two of his more faithful lackeys showed more spine than the man himself and stuck next to him.

"Argo-san has spent the past two weeks compiling all of her knowledge from the beta into the book that has saved countless lives! The book that I know you have a copy of, because I SAW YOU TAKE ONE from the merchant across from me! TWICE! Argo is an information broker! THE information broker! Have you ever heard of the Rat? Look at her face! Who do think the most famous information broker of the beta testers is?!"

As the rest of the plaza turned to look at her, Argo actually blushed and scratched her cheek timidly.

"So I ask you again! What have you done for us? Except bring your petty complaints to a forum meant to inspire hope in the community? You are a disgrace to players and human beings everywhere! If you don't get out of my sight, so help me I will toss your sorry ass in the boss room myself!"

"Y-you can't do that…"

"MOVE!"

Kibaou practically tripped over himself on his way out of the plaza. His lackeys followed behind him, leaving the rest of the people shocked into silence at the sheer volume of Agil's last command. Diavel was the first to recover.

"Ahem. So… we've been sidetracked, but I suppose we should get down to business now. Since all of you are already standing, why don't you help me out?"

"Meh. Well, I guess it _is_ what I came for…" Argo fake-drawled.

"Uh, I'm not sure how much help I'll be, but I guess I can try?" Everyone paused for a moment again. Yuuki blinked. "What? What is it? Do I have something on my face?"

"Yuki-chan. Get offa Ki-bou's shoulders. That's my spot."

"For the record, my shoulders are not reserved for anybody," Kirito stated flatly. When he was summarily ignored, he sighed and said "I can't help, sorry. I don't know anything about the new floor boss listed in the book."

"That's okay, uh… 'Ki-bou'?" Diavel said easily. "Your experience will surely be helpful."

"If you think so. My name's Kirito, by the way."

"I know the least out of everyone standing here, but at the least, I can keep order. Ha ha ha!"

The giant man's laughter echoed through the plaza, a sparking of wave of nervous chuckling in agreement with his assertion.

"Great! Then, let's get started!"

…

"Argo, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!"

"Oho! Is that the beginnings of a confession I hear, Ki-bou? Wait, I have to properly prepare myself! Alright, go on."

"Argo."

"Yeees?"

"I think I prefer Konno-san."

The bright-eyed girl still seated on his shoulders beamed down at him and hugged his head.

"I like you too, Kirito! Wanna go out?"

"Oof! The love of my life, taken from me before my very eyes…!" Argo lamented theatrically. "I don't think my poor maiden's heart can take such a tragedy!"

"I'll give you a thousand Cor for the name and address of the poor maiden you stole that heart from so that I can go apologize to her and give it back."

"Ha ha. Yer a riot, Ki-bou, you really are."

"I think you're both fun to be around!"

"Why, thank you, Yuki-chan. I like being around you too! You're just so darn happy all the time! It's contagious!"

"Yep!"

The trio eventually made it to the hotel Kirito was staying at. He knelt down to let Yuuki off of his shoulders, but found that she didn't budge.

"Uh, Konno-san?"

"Hm?"

"Can you get off of my shoulders now?"

"Why?"

He stared up at her incredulously.

"What? What do you mean 'why'? This is my stop. I'm staying here."

"So?"

"So, I'm going to go to sleep. Which you should be doing too, since we're practicing the raid in a dungeon tomorrow."

"Pfft. No dungeon could stand up to the mighty Super MonHunMan!"

"S-super MonHonMan…?"

"Pfffffahahaha! It got better! I didn't think it would, but it did! Good job, Yuki-chan!"

Kirito directed a half-hearted glare at the information broker doubled over with laughter at his expense. He tried to do the same to the girl sitting on his shoulders, but found that no glare he could muster could possibly override the aura of innocence and optimism that Yuuki radiated. He gave up and smiled at her in resignation.

"I know, right? It's so much better than just being some random guy. Now you're like a superhero!"

His smile dropped somewhat.

"…How old are you again?"

"Fifteen!"

"Ki-bou, you know better than to ask a lady that," Argo chided him. "Yuki-chan, you should be offended."

"But I'm not that old?"

"It's not about being old, Yuki-chan. It's about the spirit of the question. No man asks that question and means anything nice by it."

The dark-haired girl's mouth opened in a small 'o'.

"Really? Huh. Kirito, were you trying to be mean to me?"

"Konno-san. No, Yuuki-chan. Look me in the eyes. Could I ever be mean to you?"

She did as he told her to and stared down into his eyes hard. She blushed slightly as her heart began to beat faster. After three seconds, she looked away and crossed her arms.

"Nope!" she declared confidently. "Kirito's the nicest guy I know! That's why I like him so much!"

"And how many guys do you actually know, Yuki-chan?"

"A lot!"

"Konno-san. I want you to think very hard about what Argo just told you about impolite questions. Then think about what she just asked you."

"I liked it better when you called me 'Yuuki-chan'…"

Kirito bit his lip at her pouting expression but was unable to stop himself from capitulating instantly.

"…Yuuki-chan. Please think about what I just said."

"Okay!"

Five seconds later.

"Argo, were you trying to be mean to Kirito?"

"Why, Yuki-chan! I'm offended ya would even think me capable of such a thing!"

"…Don't be mean to Kirito, Argo. I thought you said you really liked him."

Argo choked.

"O-of course I like him! Girls always tease boys they like!" she said a tad faster than usual.

"Oh. I guess that makes sense. Hey Kirito, should I tease you too? How about if we go to your room first though? It's a little exposed here, and I don't like being in public that much if I'm not fighting…"

 _Why did that sound so innocent and so naughty at the same time?_

Kirito blinked.

 _Why am I thinking about Konno-san like that? We've met like, twice. Maybe three times? Doesn't matter. Bad Kirito. Do not corrupt innocent little girls. Begone impure thoughts. Corruption bad. Bad bad bad. Bad bad bad bad bad…_

"Argo, I think I broke Kirito."

"Ufufufu. You broke him in one way, alright…"

"How do I fix him?"

"I have a couple of ideas."

Yuuki leaned backwards on her perch on the absent-minded Kirito's shoulders, the teenage boy subconsciously shifting his center of balance to keep them from tipping over. She listened attentively to Argo as the grounded girl whispered into her ear.

"Okay, got it. Here I go!"

"Go for it, Yuki-chan! I'm with you all the way!"

Kirito blinked again as he felt his passenger tap his head a couple of times.

"Yes, Konno-san?"

His response threw her off slightly.

"You went back to calling me 'Konno-san'… Do you not like me anymore, Kirito?"

"Grk. I-I mean, yes Yuuki-sa…chan?"

"Yuuki!"

"What?"

"I want you to call me Yuuki!"

"But, Yuuki…chan, we don't really know each other _that_ well."

"That's okay! I'll tell you all you wanna know. I'll even show you everything I'm hiding!"

 _BEGONE IMPURE THOUGHTS. BAD BAD BAD!_

"Uh, Yuki-chan. Ya better go with Plan B before ya permanently break Ki-bou."

"Oh no! Please don't break, Kirito! There's so much more I wanna do with you!"

Argo watched as Yuuki was forcefully removed from Kirito's shoulders as the boy rushed off in the direction of the nearest exit gate out of the Town of Beginnings. If she recalled correctly, and she did, there was a shallow stream in that direction.

"…Are you doin' this on purpose?"

"Doing what on purpose?" Yuuki asked innocently. Her smile was a little too wide.

"Ooh, I knew we were best friends for a reason Yuki-chan!"

…

Kirito stopped once he was a fair distance away from the town. He looked behind him to make sure neither of the girls followed him. He wouldn't put it past either one to continue to torment him, one with her innocence and the other completely on purpose, though he had grown resistant to Argo's antics over time. However, Yuuki's childlike mannerisms just pierced his defenses instantly. Maybe he was a closet lolicon?

 _NO. BAD KIRITO. STOP THINKING THINGS!_

"…If you're done with your one-man comedy routine, it's time to die."

He paused. His face set itself in a grim smile. So, Argo had been right all along.

"I thought you were smart for running from Agil, but since you're here, threatening me of all people, I guess I have to take that back."

As he spoke, Kirito turned around to face the three men on the dirt road separating him from the town in the distance. Kibaou and his two lackeys stood with their arms crossed. They were doing their best to look intimidating, but after facing giant monsters the size of houses, any apprehension Kirito might have experienced fighting against regular players ceased to affect him. His only concern was whether he would need to sacrifice his hard-earned levels in «Solo» to equip «Mercy».

"Hmph. You're just like all the rest of the beta testers. So full of yourself. Well, today's the day you find out who the top dogs really are. Boys!"

His two lackeys grinned viciously as they each drew different weapons. The one on Kibaou's left held a curved scimitar, a weapon that was normally unavailable on the first floor, while the one on his right held a halberd. Kibaou himself drew a much larger battle-axe from his back than the small one-handed one he had wielded against Yuuki earlier.

"Compensating for something, Kibaou-san?"

"Talk all you want. You'll be six feet under soon."

He sighed. Scum like this wasn't worth it. Oh well, someone had to do it. He was the one who had accepted the job in the first place to hunt down those that were responsible for the deaths of the beta testers. Players that were intimately familiar with the basics of SAO would never put themselves in a situation that resulted in their deaths, especially not on the very first floor, a floor that was functionally identical to the first floor of the beta said players had just come out of. The natural conclusion was that these beta testers, who often operated alone using the «Solo» Skill, were dying to causes outside of simple monster attacks. Since this was the first floor, the only other possible causes of death were suicide… and PK.

It was not widely-known, nor would it be if Argo got her way, but of the unexplained deaths on the Monument, there were a bare handful of eyewitnesses who saw three hooded figures attack the poor players who had been mistaken for beta testers. His initial reaction upon entering the plaza was due to his mistaken belief that the killers might have been hiding in plain sight. Common sense thankfully saved him from blowing his cover right then and there. He and Argo had indeed been unable to meet ever since they separated, but he had received messages through random other players, starting with the request. The reason he knew they were from her was because each and every one knew some piece of information that only he and Argo would have known.

Kirito shook himself from his thoughts as the scimitar-wielding man was the first to attack, leading with «Sonic Leap». The skill's trajectory was simple to predict, especially for someone who had maxed the «One-Handed Sword» Skill six times over. A quick sidestep put him out of range of its user, no matter if he used a thrust or swung the blade in any direction. Meanwhile, both Kibaou and the remaining lackey advanced on him more cautiously, noting that he did not attack the vulnerable man when he was immobilized by the recovery period of using an Art.

"What's the matter, boy? Too scared to attack?" Kibaou taunted.

"Are you saying you have a death wish?"

"Tsk. Big talk for someone who's gonna die! «Smash»!"

The telegraphed downward swing was avoided just as easily. Kirito wondered if Kibaou thought it was cool to act like an idiot and tell your opponent everything you were going to do. He also wondered how the other beta testers had ever been killed if this idiot was the one behind the killings.

"Stay still, brat! This won't even hurt!"

The halberd swung through empty air as Kirito continued to backpedal.

The teenage boy took his time weighing his options. He was still unarmed, and neither he nor his assailants had made any headway in their short fight. The prison crystal in his inventory would suffice if he wanted to capture them, but… there was no guarantee Kibaou wouldn't try something like this again. Maybe he'd hurt him just a little? There was the issue of having to hold back, but he could also treat it as another challenge. Rather than aim at the glaring weak points, strike only at the spots that won't outright maim or kill. His course of action decided, Kirito shifted his stance.

The next time Kibaou's scimitar-wielding lackey tried to execute a «Sonic Leap» at him, he stepped into the trajectory instead of away from it. His action surprised the lackey mid-Art, and caused him to break his own stance, cancelling it while he was still flying through the air. The lackey's face transitioned comically slowly from triumphant victory to panic as he realized his forward momentum hadn't stopped with the Art. Kirito threw a «Haymaker» into the man's face as he sailed by, flipping the man head over heels as he tumbled to a stop, clutching his head.

"You idiot! Ignore the pain! It's all a game!"

"It's a lot easier to tell someone else to do that than it is to do it yourself. Ever heard of 'easier said than done'?"

Kirito executed his own «Sonic Leap».

"Wha- GAAAH!"

He pulled his sword out of the other man's leg, making sure to cut off one of the man's feet. Real life conditions like being hamstrung did not exist in SAO. Therefore, the only way to reduce an opponent's mobility or other abilities was often to slice off a body part. This also caused the Bleed status effect, but so long as the exposed part was covered with something, usually a hand, the player would not lose HP.

"Boss! You- AHHH! MY HAND! MY HAAAND!"

Of course, if one lost a hand, unless they pressed the stump of their arm against their chest or something, their other hand would also be occupied stopping the HP loss from Bleed.

The man's halberd clattered to the ground as he clutched at his right wrist. Nearby, Kibaou was rolling around with both hands on his right ankle. Kirito plunged his sword downwards point-first next to the lackey he had laid out with a «Haymaker» seconds earlier, discouraging him from reaching for his discarded scimitar. The lackey raised both hands in surrender immediately, begging for his life.

 _These can't be the assailants._

Kirito frowned as he looked at the three men he had dispatched effortlessly.

"Kibaou," he addressed the leader, not bothering with honorifics, "am I the first person you've attacked?"

"FUCK YOU!"

He drew his sword and walked over, placing the point on his other foot.

"YES! YES! YOU ARE! YOU'RE THE FIRST!"

"You wouldn't happen to be… lying, would you?" Kirito asked as he traced a shallow line on the man's ankle.

"I'M NOT! I SWEAR! PLEASE! I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN! I'LL GO TO JAIL! JUST PLEASE DON'T HURT MEEE!"

Kibaou fell silent when the point was leveled at his throat.

"Alright fine, but only if you shut up."

Kirito's frown became more pronounced. If only the player indicator had carried over from the closed beta. Back then, all players had a tiny inverted pyramid floating above their heads, the color of which signified whether the player had attacked another in the past twenty-four hours. It was green if the player did not engage in PvP outside of duels, orange if they caused significant damage to another player outside of a duel, and red if they killed another player in an unsanctioned manner. There were loopholes such as being able to lure monsters over to PK an unaware or unprepared player, but the player indicator as a whole did its job well.

Once the open beta period rolled around, this feature was inexplicably removed.

A choked gasp interrupted his thoughts. Kirito turned around from where he had unconsciously paced to and saw three figures in black hooded cloaks obscuring their eyes and blood-red scarves hiding their mouths, each standing over the body of one of the men he had incapacitated earlier. They all held wickedly-curved knives in one hand, the other having already plunged a knife into the men's chests. All at once, he realized what was about to happen, what he had failed to prevent.

"NO!"

The knives descended. Over and over. He wasted no time in rushing over with sword in hand, but his path was barred by the closest figure.

"Mmmm… hehehe… You're too soft, boy…" a male voice murmured from within the makeshift lower face mask, slowly growing in volume. "They were going to kill you, y'know…? We did you… a FAVOR!"

A lightning-fast «Slant» was deflected by his own «Slant». Kirito tried to step past the man blocking his way, but had to dodge two thrown knives. One scored a shallow cut on his cheek, barely dealing any damage, but he forced himself to wait and see if any status effects popped up on his HUD. None did. One of Kibaou's lackeys shattered to pieces.

"Hehehe…! One down…!"

The hooded figure that had been crouched over the now-deceased man retreated into the darkness. Once again, Kirito found his path blocked by the mystery man, two more knives ready to throw.

"Get out of my way!"

"Why do you try and save them, boy…? We are delivering justice…"

"You're no better than they are!"

His forward advance was halted by three knives this time, two from the person in front of him and one from the hooded figure crouched over Kibaou's remaining lackey.

"Hahaha…" the male laughed. It was a dry, rasping sound that made it seem as if he were coughing at the same time as trying to express amusement. "Spare us the contrite arguments and the accusations of hypocrisy. We are… justice…! We do not answer… to YOU!"

To Kirito's surprise, the man retreated. To his dismay, Kibaou's other lackey shattered into hundreds of polygons as the hooded man planted the two knives he was holding in Kibaou as he ran away, one in the man's forehead and another in his neck. He shattered to pieces instantly.

"Goodbye… boy… Maybe we will see each other… again…! AHAHAHAHAHA…!"

Kirito saw red. All he could hear was the man's cackling. Something in him snapped. «Art Chain» would let him reach. Two «Sonic Leap» Arts chained back-to-back put him within striking distance of the retreating man.

"How… FOOLISH!"

There was a clang of steel as, against all expectations, Kirito moved during the supposed vulnerability state.

"Wha-?"

For the first time since he'd appeared, the man showed a hint of uncertainty. Not good enough. Kirito wanted to see fear. The same fear he had seen in Kibaou's eyes moments before he was gone forever. Numbers, words, and symbols flashed across the teenager's vision, their meaning lost to him. System messages flashed in the corner of his field of view, but he ignored them all. Nothing else mattered except that he had failed to protect someone again. He had failed not once, not twice, but three times. And it was this man's fault.

Kirito felt his body seize up as the system tried to assert control. «Art Chain» was trying to force him into the immobilized state of vulnerability due to using two of the same Art in a chain. His actions, or lack thereof, did not go unnoticed.

"Hehehe. So it was just a fluke. Well, boy. If you are so eager to die, I will happily oblige!"

He saw the blade descend towards him. He blocked it again.

"What?! How?!"

He didn't care. The man was wide open. His body remembered what the system had forced him to forget. Four consecutive slashes culminated in a rough square as they spread out from his position. The man he fought was durable it seemed. He still had half his health left. Kirito followed up with a heavy thrust that threw the man several meters backwards. His body moved on autopilot as he cycled through his favored sequence of Arts.

When Kirito came to his senses, he was swinging at empty air. The landscape of Aincrad had transitioned from sunset into nighttime. He looked around in confusion until he saw the notification that he had failed to dismiss who knows how long ago. As he read it, his eyes widened to the size of saucers. He swiped downwards to bring up his Status menu and navigated to his Skills.

"No…"

…

"…way!" Yuuki cried excitedly.

"What's up, Yuki-chan? Somethin' good happen?"

"Something amazing happened! Look, look!"

Argo hummed noncommittally as she walked over to sit down on Kirito's bed next to the other girl.

"What do we have here? Your Skills? What's so interesting about… wait."

"It gets better! Look!"

"How do you… but that's not… Ki-bou…!"

"Yep! It's gotta be! Maybe I should tease him until he runs off more often?"

"Stay still, Yuki-chan. I wanna read all of it."

"Oh. Right. Mkay."

Argo settled back down, draped over the other girl's shoulders with her head resting on one of them. Yuuki nuzzled against her cheek playfully.

"Stop that, Yuki-chan. My whiskers are ticklish, y'know."

"…Those are real?"

"…Yuki-chan, I was joking."

"Oh. Right. I knew that," the girl mumbled sheepishly.

"Sometimes, I wonder about you Yuki-chan. I really do."

"Stop bullying me, Argo. I'll tell Kirito."

"Puh-lease. I'm not scared of anything he'll do to me. He's too nice."

Yuuki smiled mischievously.

"I never said what I'd tell him."

Argo paused and examined her friend critically.

"…You're bluffing."

"Am I?" Yuuki chirped. "I mean, I'm pretty sure I saw you writing 'Kirigaya Ar-'"

"AAAAAH! NO! WHEN? WHERE? HOW?!"

"Never. No idea. Didn't. But, thanks for telling me!"

Argo stared open-mouthed at the other girl, who just beamed brightly back. The information broker slowly came to the realization that this was the second time she had made such a critical blunder in the world of Aincrad. In her haste, she didn't even register the fact that Yuuki clearly meant to say "Argo", which obviously wasn't her real name.

"You… you could be even more terrifying than me…"

"Ah. You're bullying me again, Argo."

"If anything, you're the one bullying me here."

A knock on the door interrupted their banter. The two of them looked at each other before Argo made a graceful bowing motion and gestured towards the door. Yuuki giggled at her antics and hopped off the bed. She bounced over to the wooden door and threw it open, wrapping the person on the other side in a warm hug.

"Kirito! I missed you!"

"Um."

Yuuki blinked at the clearly female voice. She drew back and looked at the girl in her arms. She had a soft, delicate face and short blue hair with some streaks of black in it indicating that it was dyed, rather poorly at that, unless the streaks were intentional.

"Who're you?" she asked in her usual innocent tone.

"I'm-"

"Sinononononon!"

"Too long!"

* * *

 **New Skills:**

 **Weapon Skills**

«One-Handed Axe»

 **Combat Skills**

«Art Chain»: Enables the use of Sword Arts consecutively, but enforces a combined vulnerability period afterward for all Arts used. Using the same Art more than once in a chain immediately ends the chain. Level up to increase execution speed and reduce vulnerability.

«Freeform»: Enables the use of Sword Arts without their vulnerability periods or starting stances, but disables system-assisted motion. Sword Arts executed in this way must still follow predefined motions in order to receive the damage bonus. Level up to increase damage dealt with all Sword Arts.

«Momentum»: Boosts damage dealt by Sword Arts for every successful Sword Art. The effect is reset if a Sword Art is interrupted or fails to hit anything. Level up to increase damage bonus per Sword Art and stacking limit.

«Predict»: Highlights and displays warning indicators for incoming attacks. Level up to increase likelihood and precision of warnings and expand range of detection.

«Vital Point Piercing»: Derivative of «Critical Hit» and «Detect». Reveals weak spots and enables additional damage bonus when attacking them. Level up to increase damage dealt to weak spots and widen their surface area temporarily after they are struck by the user.

 **Auxiliary Skills**

«Carpentry»: Enables the automated creation and renovation of buildings using appropriate tools and materials. Level up to increase durability and maximum size of structures and unlock new blueprints.

«Exploring»: Improves overall mapping and terrain traversal abilities. Grants various bonuses when mapping unexplored regions. Level up to increase variety and potency of bonuses.

«Hunting»: Boosts the quality of dropped materials from organic monsters. Level up to increase drop rate.

«Inventing»: Enables the creation of new item recipes through trial and error. Grants an experience bonus upon success. Level up to increase potency of bonus. New recipes can be manually shared via a unique recipe item.

«Medicine»: Increases HP recovered from consumable items and increases resistance to physical status ailments.

«Mercy»: Prevents the user's attacks from reducing any entity's HP below 1. Does not work if an entity is already at 1 HP. (Cannot be leveled up.)

«Pioneering»: Grants various bonuses upon being the first on a given server to accomplish certain tasks. Level up to increase variety and potency of bonuses. Created by Kirito (Extra Skill).

«Solo»: Boosts the user's character and Skill experience gained when alone. Level up to increase magnitude of effects. Created by Kirito.

 **Extra Skills**

«Exceed»: Bestows various effects. (Cannot be leveled up normally.)

* * *

 **A/N:** Kirito has not yet met Klein. For all intents and purposes, all ten thousand people logged in within an hour of each other and the fateful announcement took place shortly thereafter.

This chapter is more team-building, introducing the second member of the invincible core duo that will eventually tear its way through Aincrad with support from the game's other top players. That the main ones that help out tend to be female is entirely coincidence. Really.

* * *

Next chapter: «Return to Form»! The first floor boss is defeated! Asuna reveals herself! Kirito goes to everyone's favorite pink blacksmith to get his sword serviced! …I'm simultaneously ashamed and totally not sorry. Send help.


	3. Ch2 - Return to Form

**Chapter 2 – Return to Form**

* * *

 **Previous Chapter Synopsis:**

Ten thousand players are trapped in the world of Aincrad, within the VRMMO Sword Art Online. Taking advantage of his knowledge of the early stages of the game that he gained from the beta, Kirito leaves his friend Argo behind in order to gain strength. Following his reunion with old friends and acquaintances during the 1st Floor boss meeting two weeks later, the teen is ambushed outside of town by Kibaou, a vocal opponent of beta testers. After disabling them with ease, the actual group of Player Killers springs their trap, resulting in the death of the inexperienced Kibaou and two others. Kirito manages to kill one of the unknown PKers as they attempt to escape, triggering an evolution of his «Exceed» Skill in the process.

* * *

"Woah, what's that!?"

"That's just a glowing cave crystal, Konno-san," Diavel answered patiently. "Most of Aincrad's cave systems and underground dungeons have them to help players see."

"Cool!"

The raid group of twenty-four people trekked deeper into the stone halls of the dungeon, their footsteps echoing through the large, empty halls as they progressed towards the boss room. Dungeons came in two flavors: static and dynamic. Static dungeons had the same layout every time they were entered, while dynamic dungeons changed their contents depending on some sort of condition, algorithm, or sometimes completely by random. Most floors had at least one static and one dynamic dungeon. The first floor, since it was filled with lots of tutorial content, only had one dungeon that wasn't a tutorial dungeon filled with weak Lv.1 enemies. It went without saying that the non-tutorial dungeon was the one the raid group was practicing with.

"Woah, what's that?!"

"That's a skeleton-type enemy, Konno-san. They're weak to bashing attacks, but resistant to cutting or piercing attacks. Most dungeons have them as one of the basic enemy types."

"Cool!"

The raid group of twenty-four people dispatched the skeletons with little trouble. The average level of all of the players, if Kirito wasn't included, was 8. The enemies of this dungeon started at Lv.5 and never got past Lv.7. The boss was also Lv.7. This training exercise was really meant to give the potential clearers time to get used to working in parties. Many were beta testers who, up until now, had operated in two- or three-man groups, or solo. Of the hundred or so people who attended the boss meeting, about two-thirds had volunteered to participate in formal training. The remaining thirty or so people either were confident in their abilities or did not plan on fighting the boss of the first floor. None of the others held grudges against those that didn't want to risk their lives.

"Woah, what's that?!"

"That's a rare treasure chest. Wow, we got lucky. Dungeons sometimes spawn chests instead of monsters or traps in empty rooms. It encourages exploration with the trade-off of possibly having to fight more monsters before taking on the boss. Once per dungeon, a healing spring may even spawn."

"Cool!"

The raid group of twenty-four people filed into the room and stared at the wooden chest curiously as Diavel walked up to it and popped the lid open. Distribution of currency was even among all group members unless someone opted out, but distribution of items was completely random. If someone got items twice, they were just considered lucky. Since this was only the first non-tutorial dungeon, all of the chests only contained currency and possibly a health potion or two, which was given to whoever had space to carry it. Players could only carry a maximum of ten healing potions with them at any given time, no matter the efficacy of the potions or what they did. One's potion supply was yet another important facet of character customization, but for a raid group, it was a crucial factor for leaders to consider and manage.

"Woah, what's _that_?!"

"Uh… I… don't actually know what that is," Diavel admitted. "Kirito-san?"

"It's a teleport panel. They aren't supposed to show up until the tenth floor though…"

"A teleport panel?" the leader of the raid group asked curiously. "I've never cleared a dungeon on the tenth floor, so I wouldn't know. What does it do?"

"Depends on the color. White takes you out, green warps you to the healing spring, yellow puts you in a treasure room, and red puts you right outside the boss room. All of them have a chance of being a trap and warping you to a monster room instead."

"So… black would mean…?"

"I'm guessing random, but I've never seen a black teleport panel."

"Hm. Well, we're here to train for the boss, and floor bosses don't get their own dungeons until the fifth floor as far as the beta went. Let's ignore it and move on."

The raid group of twenty-three people each walked out of the room's other exit. The linear nature of the dungeon meant that every room only had one entrance and one exit, and it was impossible to get lost unless you somehow lost track of which doorway you had entered from. Kirito stopped in his tracks as he realized something.

"…Where's Yuuki?"

…

 _Sixty seconds._

Sinon watched the proceedings with amusement and mentally predicted the amount of time her friend Argo would be able to remain angry at the diminutive form of Yuuki, kneeling obediently on the ground with her hands on her legs.

"What have we learned today, Yuki-chan?"

"Don't touch random things in a dungeon," Yuuki replied while looking down guiltily.

"Yes. And?"

"Don't wander off on my own and leave the raid leader behind."

"Yes, that too. Aaand?"

Yuuki paused to think for a second.

"…Don't solo the boss?"

Argo bopped her on the head lightly.

"YES! Don't solo the boss that the raid group was supposed to use to train with!"

"…I'm sorry, Argo."

The mousy-haired girl steeled her nerves and valiantly fought against the urge to immediately backpedal and cheer her best friend up. The way Yuuki looked to be on the verge of tears did not help.

"S-so long as you understand. You do understand, right?"

"Mhm…"

"Well, so long as you understand, I guess I can let ya go now…"

The shorter girl beamed and launched herself at Argo to wrap her in a hug.

"Yay! You're the best, Argo!"

As the dark-haired girl skipped out of the room happily, Sinon looked up from the updated Beginner's Guide she was reading and shot her friend a knowing look.

"What?" Argo asked defensively.

"…You and Kirito are _so_ putty in that girl's hands," she responded, voicing her thoughts aloud.

"I'd like to see you try and last against her freakin' puppy dog eyes! That girl is a walking, talking master manipulator! She's better at it than I am!" Argo protested hotly.

"Uh huh. Excuses."

"Oh, you shut up Miss 'What's a Sword Art'."

"That's not fair! I didn't play in either of the betas! And I'll have you know I'm better at combat than you now!"

"I'm not a fighter!" Argo retorted. "Besides, why did ya even enter the drawing for a game ya knew nothing about?"

Sinon raised the booklet in her hands slightly to hide the blush on her cheeks.

"Well… you were playing it…" she mumbled.

Argo blinked, before breaking out in a huge, goofy grin.

"D'awwwww. C'mere and gimme a hug, Sinononon!" she said, opening her arms wide.

"Again, too long! It's just 'Sinon'!" her friend replied, refusing the invitation.

They stared at each other.

"Sinonon?"

"Sinon!"

"Sinononon?"

 _It got longer?!_

"Si. Non!"

"Siiiii-nononon!" Argo cried triumphantly, tackling her friend to the soft bed and rubbing their cheeks together.

"Gahhh!"

"Ahahaha, no wonder you and Ki-bou get along so great!"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

It was Argo's turn to give her friend a knowing look. Up-close, she could see the way Sinon's cheeks colored slightly.

"You can't hide anything from me, Sinonon! You totally have a thing for pretty boys, don'tcha!"

"I do not!"

"Uh huuuh. Well then I guess ya don't want to come with me to see him?"

"Wait, no!" Sinon blushed harder when Argo's teasing smile widened. "I mean, I still have to apologize for barging into his room last night…"

"Ohohoho!"

"You know what I mean, dammit! It was awkward when he burst back into his room and found all of us there!"

"I dunno, most guys would be pretty happy to find three cuties like us in their room."

"Not like that!"

Argo laughed at her friend's distress and relented.

"Anyway, Sinononon. I really am gonna go meet with him now. The other practice groups are takin' their turns, so he's free for at least the next coupl'a hours. You comin'?"

Sinon huffed and stood up, storing the Beginner's Guide back in her inventory.

"Yes. I'm coming. Where to?"

"If I know Ki-bou, and I _do_ know Ki-bou, he's napping somewhere outside."

"Won't he be attacked?"

"I never said he'd be napping alone."

…

"And then, and then, it was all like _whoosh_ with its huge sword and I was like _whoo_!"

"Uh huh. Good job, Yuuki. That dungeon boss was no match for you."

The excitable little girl beamed at Kirito and sat down next to him under the shade of the big tree he had been napping while leaning against earlier. Off in the distance, Agil could be seen shouting orders at a smaller group of players who were engaged in a group spar with each other. Every so often, one of the players would switch out with another one waiting on the sidelines. They gained no experience points for fighting against each other, but that wasn't the point. The players gathered in the open plains were those who wanted to form Aincrad's first police force.

"Y'know, I bet you and I could probably take the first floor boss on alone. Wanna try?"

"No. It's too much of a risk," Kirito replied seriously.

"I know, I know. I was just kidding. Besides, it's not like we'd get anything for it. We both already have «Exceed»."

He hummed noncommittally as Yuuki laid her head on his shoulder. She was just tall enough that she could do so. He shifted a little at the contact, but her innocent demeanor calmed him down somewhat as he thought back to what she had said.

"I'm not so sure about that actually."

Yuuki blinked and looked over at him.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"The Cardinal System seems to like giving players random Extra Skills. For all we know, if we duo a boss, we might get a pair of linked Skills or something. It wouldn't surprise me."

"Oooh!"

"But it's still too dangerous."

"Oh. Right. Hahaha."

Kirito deadpanned at the girl next to him who wore a sheepish expression.

"Don't do anything crazy, okay? You might be the most powerful duelist in the game, but monsters aren't players. Reaction time can only help you so much against a boss that has AOE attacks that you have to be prepared for by being in the right place seconds in advance."

Yuuki stared at him reverently as she committed the small nugget of PvE wisdom to memory.

"I see… But, I'll be okay as long as you're there! You can just tell me what to do!"

"That's not the point. You need to learn-"

"By the way, what does 'AOE' stand for?" she interrupted.

"Area of effect," Kirito answered automatically. "It means an attack that hits a large area, like fire breath or a stomp that generates a shockwave. As I was saying, you really need to learn more about the PvE aspect of the game on your own. I won't always be around to help you."

"…You won't?"

Kirito winced as he saw her teary eyes.

"Wait, no. Stop with the eyes! I don't have a choice! The tenth floor boss was a pair boss in the open beta!"

"A pair boss?"

"Yeah. It means it was a boss encounter that was made up of two powerful monsters instead of one," he replied, sighing in relief as her curiosity overrode her impending sadness. "One of the boss monsters actually grabbed on to me and threw me to one side of the large arena, where I had to survive against it alone until the others could make their way over to me."

"Wow. Sounds scary. Actually, I think I remember hearing about that. Didn't you cut one of its wings off?"

"No, that was a different boss monster, and it wasn't a floor boss, that's for sure. I'm not looking forward to fighting a floor boss that can fly…" he trailed off with a shudder.

"Ki-bou! Yuki-chan! Good to see you two are getting along so well!"

The pair of beta testers looked up to see Argo with her trademark whiskers, followed closely by Sinon, idly tossing a dagger up and down while avoiding eye contact. Kirito noticed she was fidgeting with another dagger at her waist as well.

"Hey, Argo, Sinon-san. What's up?" Kirito greeted.

"Nothin', just came to see how ya were doin'. Though, I think Sinonon might have something to say to you!"

"Wha-! No! What are you talking about?! I mean, I do, but-"

"Are you okay there, Sinon-neechan?"

Sinon's brain short-circuited when Yuuki addressed her.

"'N-neechan'?"

"Why does she get to be called 'neechan'?!" Argo complained. "You knew me first!"

"Well, she acts more mature than you," Yuuki reasoned. She turned back Sinon, who had her mouth open in shock. "You… don't mind if I call you that, right? I kinda miss my big sister…"

"Hng. Y-yes. You can call me whatever you want to, Yuuki-chan."

"Yay!"

"Oh, you sneaky little- wait." Argo smiled mischievously. "Does that mean you're going to start calling Kirito 'Onii-chan'?"

The boy in question blinked at suddenly being included in the conversation.

"That's a great idea! Kirito, can I?"

"Sorry, Yuuki, but no."

Argo and Yuuki both looked surprised at how quickly he shut the idea down. The pained expression on Kirito's face discouraged them from asking why, though it wasn't hard to guess. Unlike the girls, he still wasn't an only child, and unlike Yuuki, his sibling was still alive. He had already mentioned his adoptive little sister in passing to all of them.

"Oh. Uh, okay. Sorry."

"It's fine. She's probably way more worried about me than I am about her. Haha…"

"Anyway, Ki-bou! There was something else I wanted to ask you about «Exceed»," Argo interrupted. She ignored the way Kirito panicked slightly at them being overheard. Nobody else was around except for Agil and the police potentials-in-training. "I didn't really get the chance to ask earlier, but what happened exactly? This is the third time it's changed."

Kirito frowned as he remembered last night, or tried to.

"Remember how I said I found the players responsible for the killings?"

"Yeah? Two of them got away, right?"

He nodded. "That's right. The Skill must have changed while I was fighting the one that… that I killed."

"Don't beat yourself up over it, Ki-bou. He deserved it."

"…Right. Anyway, that's the only time that it could have happened."

Yuuki leaned into him more while Argo plopped herself down on the grass. Sinon was content to remain standing and watch the others train, still tossing a dagger in the air absentmindedly. She had no idea what her friend meant by «Exceed», just like she had no idea what Argo was talking about most of the time when she was playing the part of information broker as 'the Rat'. Whenever that happened, Sinon usually pulled out the Beginner's Guide to review some section or read a new one.

"This would be the first time it's evolved during combat, then?"

"Yeah. The first time was when we cleared the redesigned tenth floor boss."

"And the second time was when I got it on the last day!" Yuuki chimed in.

"Right. Do ya remember what it felt like, Ki-bou?"

"Not really. I don't remember the fight all that clearly either. After I saw him kill Kibaou and start running away, I just kind of… acted."

Argo closed her eyes in thought.

"Well, it doesn't gain experience, and it doesn't have a Skill level like most Skills, so it's hard to say what might cause it to change… Darn. Well, at least it hasn't become worse yet."

Kirito suppressed the slight tinge of guilt he felt for lying to his friend.

"Careful. I don't want you jinxing my Skill."

"Pfft. Like ya need that Skill anyway. I'm pretty sure you and Yuki-chan could clear the game yerselves if ya had infinite lives."

"But we don't, so anything that might help us stay alive and keep others alive is important."

"Yeah yeah. You need to lighten up, Ki-bou. The raid's tomorrow. Are you gonna be like this all day?"

"I'll be as serious as I need to if that's what it takes."

"Spoken like a true comic book hero. Geez, Ki-bou. Can't you just enjoy the cute girl ya currently have hugged against your chest?"

"Huh?"

Kirito looked at Yuuki and yelped when he realized he had wrapped one arm around her at some point. His sudden movement when he retracted his arm caused her to open her eyes blearily.

"Ah, wha? I was comfortable there, Kirito. Why'd you have to move…?" she asked petulantly. She yawned and stretched before jumping to her feet. "Are you guys done talking about boring stuff yet? I wanna practice!"

"Practice what?" Kirito asked curiously.

"Your Skills! Duh! Now that I can use them, I should be able to get even better at PvP!"

"«Art Chain» isn't really a useful PvP Skill, and «Predict» only works on monsters," Argo pointed out. "Why don't you go practice yer PvE skills for the boss raid instead?"

"Oooh, that's a better idea! C'mon Kirito! Let's go!"

"Go where? The raid meeting is as soon as the last group is finished, and they're in the only dungeon on the floor that isn't for tutorials."

"Then we'll go somewhere else! Like the mountains around the boss room! That's where I leveled up!"

"I still can't believe ya used the hardest zone on the floor to level up," Argo commented. "Ya know, if ya had actually done any of the tutorial quests in either beta, you'd know more about the game."

"But tutorials are boring! Besides, I did fine without them, didn't I?"

"Yes, but now you have to play catch-up with the rest of the new players if you want to help out," Kirito said. "Anyway, training is a good idea, but we shouldn't go somewhere you're already familiar with. Let's just go to nearby areas. Are you coming, Argo? Sinon-san?"

"Sure." Having been following the conversation, the blue-haired girl readily agreed to accompany them. She needed to practice too.

"You three go on. I've got some stuff to take care of with tall, dark, and scary over there," Argo responded, indicating Agil in the distance.

Kirito nodded in acceptance and got up. Yuuki cheered and impatiently tugged at Kirito's arm as he stood. The teenage boy grinned at her enthusiasm and equipped his Anneal Blade, checking to make sure its durability was still high. He would probably need to pay a visit to blacksmith after the boss depending on how careful he was with what he swung it at, but it would do just fine for now. He turned to his two companions, one of whom was still trying to pull him towards the nearest monster spawning location.

"Alright. Let's get going."

"Yay!" "Mm."

…

It was dark by the time the last of the three practice raid groups finished. Each of them had a party of beta testers to help guide them along, but there weren't enough players to form three full groups of twenty-four players. Those who wanted additional practice filled in some of the empty spots on the last expedition into the dungeon, led by one of the open beta testers.

Ikki, a tall, skinny man in his twenties with dark brown hair, was actually supposed to be a closed beta tester, but he wasn't able to participate due to work and gave the beta key to one of his coworkers. He later joined the game during the open beta period and became one of the six beta testers, not including Kirito, to achieve Prestige during the open beta period, choosing to Prestige his «Two-Handed Sword» Skill. The copy of the game he was gifted by Kayaba Akihiko for unlocking the hidden Extra Skill was given to his younger sister so that she could play the main game with him, since he had used his closed beta key to purchase the copy reserved for him before giving it away.

Interestingly enough, the one day his sister logged onto the game during the open beta, she befriended and made a promise with another player to play the full game together. This female player would go on to be the only other player to achieve Prestige on the open beta server, doing so for the «One-Handed Sword» Skill. Argo had spent an inordinate amount of time and resources tracking down the information of all of the players with the «Prestige» Skill, but had been unable to uncover anything about the elusive player who quit shortly after getting her gift copy from the game's developer. Against all odds, news about SAO had successfully been repressed enough so that the Prestige System was not public knowledge either.

In the end, the Rat was, for the first time, unable to find something out. It was a failure that still bugged her to this day and explained why the sharp-eyed girl was glancing around at all of the others present for the boss planning meeting. She figured that such prominent players as those that had achieved Prestige would definitely be among the clearers. Whether they would show themselves for the very first floor's boss was up for debate, but sooner or later, they would join the ranks of the frontline.

Argo clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"What's the matter, Argo?"

"Nothin' you need to worry about, Yuki-chan. Just searching for the other players with «Prestige»."

"Oh. Find any?"

"I'm looking at one, aren't I?"

"Yep!"

Yuuki's bright smile wiped away Argo's slight irritation at not seeing a single other «Prestige» user besides Kirito and the girl beaming at her. It was always possible their in-game avatars from the beta didn't resemble their real-life bodies, but she knew the names of all the closed beta testers in the crowd and none of the scant few female players held themselves with the sort of confidence she would expect someone who had achieved «Prestige» to have.

Just then, a likely candidate entered from one of the stone archways, following the leader of the third practice group, Ikki. Argo's eyes tracked the chestnut-haired girl as she stuck close to the open beta tester almost protectively. The two of them soon made their way to the center of the plaza, the same plaza that the previous meeting had taken place in, and took a seat at the wooden table provided for them with permission by an NPC barkeep. Yuuki was the one who had suggested they ask for one, and everyone had been surprised when the request was granted. Truly, the Cardinal System was an amazing thing.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, I suppose it's time for introductions," Diavel began, standing up to address the audience once Yuuki had taken her seat. "Thank you for coming to the first official boss planning meeting! I see a few people out there who weren't at the last one, so for those who don't know, my name is Diavel! I know that SAO doesn't have character classes, but I consider myself a Knight! I even created the «Chivalry» Skill that some of you may be familiar with!"

His words caused a few to break into smiles, while others looked surprised. He recognized a couple of people as being friends of Kibaou, though the man himself was not present.

"Yes, this means what you think it does," he continued, his tone growing solemn. "Like many of the others present, I am a beta tester. A closed beta tester, to be exact." The crowd was silent. "But, I am here to help! I want to help not only you, but everyone in the Town of Beginnings! I want to show every player trapped in this game that there is hope! This meeting is for those that want to be a part of that driving force!" The applause from his fellow beta testers and the majority of the gathered players put a swift end to any whispers. "If you disagree, or if you cannot bring yourself to work alongside us, I only ask that you do not disrupt our attempts at freeing all of us from this nightmare."

The cheering brought smile to his face. He waited patiently to see if anyone would raise an objection or leave. When none did, he nodded in gratitude and held up his hands for silence. After he got it, he turned towards the rest of the players seated with him.

"With me today, I have the potential party leaders for the boss raid. Would you like to introduce yourselves?"

Kirito suppressed a groan, but stood since he was the first person Diavel indicated.

"I'm Kirito. Nice to meet you all." He was about to sit back down, but a shout from his friend stopped him.

"C'mon Ki-bou! Diavel practically gave a whole darned speech! At least say something else!"

There were murmurs of agreement from many of the players.

"How about we do it like this," Diavel cut in. "My name is Diavel. I am level 10. My three starting Skills are «One-Handed Sword», «Vitality», and «Hunting». Since I created it, I also have «Chivalry» as an Extra Skill. Once I can, I plan to get «Shield» as a Weapon Skill. How's that?"

"Fine. My name is Kirito. I am… level 13." Many players, Diavel included, looked at him in shock. "My three starting Skills are «One-Handed Sword», «Art Chain», and «Solo». My next Skill will probably be «Predict»."

"No healing Skill?" Ikki asked. "That's ballsy."

"Nii-san…"

"What? 'Ballsy' isn't a bad word or anything, and we're all adult enough if we're willing to risk our lives," the man asserted. "I'll go next. My name is Ikki! Level 10! I'm actually an open beta tester, but I've found that every closed beta guy I've come across is a pretty decent sort. If you guys didn't know, they wrote the Beginner's Guide on their own, so that makes them okay in my eyes." He gave the audience a challenging stare, but was elbowed by the girl sitting next to them. "Ow. Why'd you have to go and do that, Asuna-chan?"

"You were being stupid. Now hurry up and finish."

"Che. You're no fun. Anyway, uh. Where was I? Oh right, my starting Skills're «Two-Handed Sword», «Switch», and «Cooking»! I'm not as good as my little sis here, but I can make a mean pot roast! My next Skill… probably «Scapegoat»."

"No healing Skill? That's ballsy, Ikki-san," Kirito parroted back to him.

"Oho! I knew I liked you! Kirito, right? Never heard of you, but with a level like that, I wouldn't be surprised if you knew that one MonHun guy from the closed beta!" Kirito's eye twitched, and he swore he heard a muffled guffaw from a certain Rat. "Have you met my sister yet? This is Asuna! You two'll get along great!"

Smack.

"Owww…"

"You're immortal in town, Nii-san. Quit pretending." Asuna huffed irritably at the way her older brother laughed her off. "My name is Asuna. Level 9, but I'll probably be 10 by tomorrow afternoon. I'm using «One-Handed Sword», «Switch», and «Cooking», and I'll be getting one of the healing Skills next." She was surprised by a hand sticking out in front of her face. The person holding it out smiled cheerfully at her, making her smile too.

"Hi Asuna! I'm Yuuki! Konno Yuuki! Nice to meet you!"

"Yuuki? That's our family name! Urk!"

Asuna ignored her doubled-over brother and returned the greeting politely.

"At least I didn't use my first name as my tag."

"You would have done the same if your name fit!"

"I still think its bull that they forced us to use English letters…"

Ikki held his hands up in surrender when his sister threatened to draw the moderately-thin sword at her waist. Kirito examined it curiously, noting it was one of the lighter varieties available on the first floor, similar to the ones Yuuki favored. He preferred the heaviest ones he could get his hands on since they dealt the most damage and he could compensate for the additional weight thanks to his experience both in and out of the game with swords, but the speed bonus offered by the lighter ones often appealed to those who could make good use of it.

"Yuuki Asuna? That's a pretty name! I used mine as my in-game name too!"

"Why thank you, Yuuki-chan," Asuna said with a soft smile. "And I'm glad I'm not the only one. Your name is very pretty as well."

"Ehehe!" Yuuki turned towards the audience. "Anyway, I'm Yuuki! If you know me from the closed beta, then people used to call me 'Zekken', but I don't use that name anymore. My Skills are «One-Handed Sword», uhh, «Freeform», and… «Solo»? I guess? I don't really use Aux Skills."

Kirito inwardly let out a sigh of relief as Yuuki picked up on his strategy of not revealing their shared «Exceed» or «Prestige» Skills. Ikki had also not mentioned his «Prestige» Skill, though with him it was a toss-up whether it had been on purpose or he had simply forgotten.

"I dunno what Skill to get next. I only used «One-Handed Sword» and «Freeform» in the beta. Oh, and «Medicine». Wait, scratch the part about «Solo». My third Skill is «Medicine». Yeah. Wait, I know! I'll get «Predict» next!"

Yuuki looked very proud of herself for coming up with an excuse to use Kirito's Skills later. Kirito himself smiled in resignation at her ditzy delivery. The next seated player to introduce themselves stood, drawing all eyes to him.

"Hello everyone. My name is Agil. Many of you may recognize me since I run a shop right outside this plaza. Drop by anytime! I'm only level 8, but I'll be spending most of tonight grinding for the boss. I have «Two-Handed Axe», «Steadfast», and «Bartering» as my three Skills. I'll be getting «Strong Grip» next, followed by «Shield»."

"That just leaves me then."

The last player at the table was a man with messy, dark-brown hair wearing a teal-colored trench coat with an insignia of three crossed swords overlaid on top of a blue shield. He was the oldest-looking of them all.

"Ahem. My name is Thinker. I know, not much of a name, but it's the one I chose. I'm level 8. I have «Spear», «First Aid», and «Diplomacy», and will be getting «Shield». I'm actually not here to participate in the raid. Instead, I'm proud to announce that I will be training Aincrad's first police force."

Confused looks answered his declaration.

"Allow me to explain. Back when this game was in the beta testing stage, things like police were unnecessary. You could be flagged for harassment and teleported to the in-game prison if you did certain things like touch another player. This feature still exists, but unlike in the beta, death is not a simple matter of respawning. Also, the game has no sort of manual reporting function for players who feel they've been scammed or otherwise wronged. That's where I come in. Or rather, that's where my group comes in."

Thinker pointed behind the gathered players, causing them to turn around and see the new row of players that had filed into the plaza, all wearing jackets or other clothing that had the same insignia as was on Thinker's trench coat. They were lined up in an orderly fashion, and all wore stern, disciplined expressions. A polite cough redirected attention back to the center of the plaza.

"Together, I and a group of twenty other players will make up the initial squad. Argo, the Rat, has been kind enough to help me find people with police training to help with new recruits, so we will soon be over one hundred players strong. It is my hope that with regular patrols of the first floor, we can make all of it safe for those who choose to stay here. Most of the clearers, when they are not otherwise busy, have also volunteered their services until I have enough people."

"That's rich."

"Huh?"

A man with brown hair that reached his shoulders calmly made his way to the table, stopping in front of Thinker.

"Oh, we're doing introductions, right? Ok. I'm Lind. Level 10. «One-Handed Sword», «Vitality», and «Chivalry». Probably getting «Shield» next. There." His frown became more severe. "You. Thinker-san. You want to make a police force right? Well, I've got your first case. Find out who killed my friend."

Kirito got a bad feeling. He recognized this man from yesterday's meeting.

"Y-your friend?" Thinker asked. "Who?"

"Kibaou. I'm sure you know of him. Heck, almost everyone here probably does. He's a dick, sure, but that doesn't mean he deserved to die. And I'm sure that one of you fucks did it!"

"Are we gonna go through this every time we have a boss meeting? Do you hate beta testers too?"

Lind rounded on the man who had spoken, standing in the front row.

"What if I do? Are you going to kill me for it?"

"Lind-san, please calm down," Diavel tried, ever the voice of reason. "Why are you so sure one of us killed him? How do you even know he's dead?"

"How do I know he's dead? Do you think I'm stupid? His name's crossed out on the Monument of Life! You know, that thing that has all our names on it? As for why I know it was one of you… doesn't it seem pretty convenient that the day after he publicly complains about beta testers, he ends up dead? Does that not strike you as the least bit odd?"

"I'm sorry for your loss, Lind-san, but I'm afraid I don't follow your logic. It could have been anybody. It could have been a monster."

"A monster?! He was level 10! The highest level monster on the floor is only level 8, besides the wolves in the mountains! We're nowhere near them!"

"This is getting off-topic," Thinker interjected. "Lind-san, please follow me and I will be happy to launch an investigation on your friend's behalf. We will find the killer and imprison him, or her."

"Imprison? No. I want them dead. An eye for an eye. Unless you have some other way to guarantee they won't kill anyone else."

"We of the police force will make sure they stay locked up until the game is cleared," Thinker promised. "Nobody can escape the prison, and we can use prison crystals to put someone back in jail after they are released automatically. The Cardinal System gives them to us for free if we petition it with an active crime, and we can buy them as well."

"What about when you get more prisoners? Are you going to use prison crystals on all of them? What about your funding? How will you stop your own police force from becoming corrupt?" Lind rattled off, poking holes in the other man's idea. "No. I want a guarantee. You know how they punish murder in court? The death penalty. If you won't give me that, then I'll take matters into my own hands, and you can't stop me." He turned and walked off, but was blocked by Agil.

"Lind-san, if you are threatening to hurt innocent players…"

"Innocent? No, I would never. I only plan on killing those that deserve it."

"How are you going to determine that?" the giant man asked.

"Prison crystals, of course. The same way the so-called 'police' plan on doing it. The beauty of prison crystals is that they only work on people who have committed a crime. All I have to do is buy one and hold it up to somebody. If it reacts, I'll kill them. If not, they're free to go. Couldn't be easier." He stepped around Agil, but the man held his shoulder. "Careful there, Agil-san. If you hold on too long, I could report you for harassment." Agil grimaced and let go.

"Your vigilante justice won't work."

Lind stopped in his tracks and regarded Kirito coolly.

"Oh really. Why not?"

"Prison crystals react to anything. You could hold one up to Agil right now and he'd be teleported to prison, although he'd probably be released in a matter of seconds."

"So? That just means I'll send them to jail first and see how long they stay. If I have to, I'll petition Cardinal for more. If anything, I'm doing you all a favor."

"Think about what you're really planning on doing. You're going to chase after the person that killed Kibaou alone. If I remember correctly, doesn't he have two people that follow him around? If all three of them were killed, what chance do you have?"

"Thank you for your concern," Lind bit out. "But I'll be fine."

Everyone watched in silence as the man marched out of the plaza.

"Please excuse me, everyone," Thinker said. "I'll go see if I can talk some sense into him." He went after Lind, the twenty men and women who were part of his police squad following suit.

"…Alright," Diavel spoke up after almost a minute. "Now, about the boss. I understand that many of you have… misgivings right now, but please leave the investigation to Thinker and his group, or at least put it aside until after this meeting. The first thing I think we should get out of the way is electing a leader for the raid." He faced the rest of the players who had reseated themselves. "Do we have any volunteers?"

"I nominate Ki-bou!" Argo yelled from middle of the crowd. "He's the highest level!"

"That's not what I-" Diavel started.

"I agree!" Yuuki chimed in.

"Now, hold on just a-"

"Sounds good to me. You up for it, Kirito-san?" Ikki asked.

"No!" Kirito denied.

"As I was saying!" Diavel interrupted. "Do we have any _volunteers_?" He joined Kirito in shooting a pointed glare at the whiskered female grinning at them from the middle of the crowd.

"Y'know, he _is_ the highest level and all- Oof!"

"I'll take that as a no. In that case, I would volunteer, but I wouldn't feel right being the leader just because nobody else stepped up. I suppose we could vote."

"Ki-bou!"

"Kirito!"

"Kirito! Also, if we were going to do this anyway, why the heck did you stop us earlier- Oof! Asuna-chan, why?!"

"I actually think you would make a better leader, Diavel-san," Asuna remarked, ignoring her brother. "Not that Kirito-san isn't a very capable player, but you do seem to have been leading the whole thing thus far."

"I agree. I'm not the best of leaders, and you clearly have some experience," Kirito added. "I remember you led a lot of dungeon expeditions as well back in the beta."

"I see. Well, I vote for myself, obviously, or else I wouldn't have volunteered. Agil-san, if you have anything you would like to say?"

"No, not really. I'm not as familiar with either of you since I was on the open beta server. I will say that willingness to lead is important, so I suppose I also cast my vote for you."

Kirito allowed himself to sigh in relief. Yuuki pouted at him, but he didn't care.

"Now that that's out of the way, we can announce parties. Some of us practiced doing a raid of the static dungeon by the eastern forest, but not everyone is here, and not everyone who attended was willing to participate in the boss raid proper, so we went with new parties. We appreciate all of you volunteering, but since the first boss only allows for four parties like a regular raid, only twenty of you will be joining us."

The gathered players grumbled a bit, but it quickly died down as Diavel stood from his seat and navigated through menus until he reached his inventory. A piece of paper soon appeared in the blue-haired man's hands.

"The leaders will be everyone seated at this table except for Konno-san and Asuna-san. Argo-san has helped us out greatly in composing each of these parties, so thank you again, Argo-san. Please be patient and wait for your name to be called. After this, we will discuss each party's role. In my party, I have…"

…

* * *

 **Floor 1 Boss: Illfang the Kobold Lord, Lv.10(+3 Prestige)**

 **Raid Leader: Diavel Lv.11**

 **Party Leaders: Kirito Lv.13, Ikki Lv.10, Agil Lv.10**

* * *

The first thing Kirito noticed as the raid notification popped up was the fact that the boss was three levels higher than it was supposed to be.

"Wait a minute…"

Diavel saw the same thing and turned around.

"Wait, don't enter the arena yet! Everyone stop!" he shouted.

"EVERYONE, DON'T MOVE!"

The command from the overall raid leader, reinforced by a shout from Agil, was enough to keep anyone from accidentally starting the fight by setting foot in the boss arena.

"The raid's been changed. The boss is three levels higher than it should be due to something called the 'Prestige Bonus'," Diavel explained.

"'The Prestige Bonus is a new mechanic introduced with the full release of Sword Art Online'," Kirito read aloud. "For every member of a floor boss raid who possess the «Prestige» Skill, the boss will… receive an additional _ten-percent increase_ in its base level?!"

"Are you joking?" Ikki asked incredulously. "That's insane!"

"We'll have to be careful with future bosses," Diavel mused.

"Should we retreat and rearrange our teams?" Agil interjected. "Three levels is still a pretty big deal when most of us are level 10. Wait, we don't…"

"We don't have access to teleport crystals yet. Which means the only way out of the boss room is by dying or beating the boss. We have no choice but to continue," Kirito finished solemnly.

The other raid members looked a little uneasy, but Yuuki jumped forward onto the arena floor, causing a series of torches to light up along the sides of the cavernous chamber and the boss itself to drop from the invisible ceiling hidden in the darkness above. The other players stared at her in disbelief as the boss' minions began spawning in beside it.

"Pshaw! All we gotta do is beat that ugly thing? No prob! We got this!"

"Konno-san…" Diavel muttered into the hand covering his face. "What did we tell you about following orders?"

"Orders are for chumps! You guys were taking too long! Y'know, there was this one video I watched a long time ago where this one guy charged in by himself. He had this neat battle cry too! It went something like…"

"Yuuki, don't you dare-"

The little girl smiled at Kirito, and he braced himself to charge in after her. A moment later, she raised her sword above her head and dashed off to face the boss and his minions.

"LEEROOOYYY JENKINS!"

"Tsk. Diavel!"

"Right! Agil, get ready to get its attention! Ikki, Kirito, take care of the minions and be ready to switch with my group! Everyone, follow your party leaders!" Diavel drew his sword and raised it above his head. "CHARGE!"

The twenty-three players left at the edge of the arena let out a collective battle cry as they ran out onto the floor after Yuuki. Ikki and Diavel's parties split off in opposite directions, the designated members of each party tossing different weapons at the Ruin Kobold Sentinel minions to lure them away. There were three Sentinels, each easily the size of Agil, but only two parties relegated to killing them, meaning that one of the two had to contend with a second Sentinel. Kirito, being the highest level and also leading some of the higher-leveled players in the raid, was the one whose group shouldered the added responsibility.

Agil's party, being comprised of the slowest players, followed in the wake of Diavel's as he led the charge towards the boss and Yuuki. The errant little girl under Kirito's command was already engaged in battle, having dodged and weaved her way past the boss' minions with her stellar AGI stat. Illfang itself was almost the size of a small house and wielded a curved sword resembling a scimitar paired with a wooden shield that looked small in comparison to its body, but was still almost bigger than Yuuki, making the sight of the girl running around and hacking at the boss' lower body rather comical.

"This thing's even slower than a newbie!" Yuuki yelled as she danced out of range of a swing from the curved sword. "What were you so afraid of? Whoops!"

She parried an attack from a stray Kobold Soldier, the much smaller and weaker version of the Sentinels, and cut off the hand it was using to wield its primitive club, followed by the whole arm, one of its legs, its other arm, and finally, its head. Meanwhile, Diavel caught up with her and used «Slant» to parry the boss' attack that was aimed at her back. The other players under his command joined the assault and forced the boss backwards.

"Oh, thanks!"

"Konno-san, please retreat and join your party."

"Aww. Do I have to?"

They dove in opposite directions to avoid a downward smashing attack from the boss.

"Yes!" Kirito shouted at her, making her pout. "Get over here!" He chained all of the directional Sword Arts he had available into the Sentinel he was facing and punched it in the stomach with his free hand. He then bashed its lowered face once with the pommel of his sword before executing a «Sonic Leap» to put himself on the other side of the monster, letting one of his allies step in and smash a hammer into the monster's face. It was sent tumbling backwards towards Kirito, who was already mid-kick. The Sentinel shattered into polygons in midair as it was launched towards the invisible ceiling.

"Y'okay!" she agreed eagerly. That looked cool. Her face fell when she remembered she wasn't supposed to be able to use «Art Chain». "Man. Keeping things secret is no fun."

Somewhat more reluctantly, she ran over to the other Sentinel her party was facing. It roared at her as she drew near, ignoring the other players. She was unimpressed, and swiftly stabbed it in the chest, piercing through its leather armor with ease thanks to her investment in STR.

"Meh." She pulled her sword out and deflected its weapon, a much larger sword than hers, with an unorthodox Sword Art. "There goes «Vertical». I wish I knew what Skill the system would use when I do stuff." Two more slashes activated two other Sword Arts she had access to. "And «Horizontal» and «Slant»…"

She hopped backwards out of range of the retaliatory swing. She lowered her stance and held her sword at her side. A moment later, she leapt forward with all her AGI and slashed at one of the Sentinel's legs as she passed by, activating «Sonic Leap». To her disappointment, the Sentinel still had about half of its HP remaining, and most of her Sword Arts were now supposed to be on cooldown. They weren't really since she forgot to unequip «Art Chain» earlier, but she figured the other players would notice if she just fired off Sword Arts nonstop.

Fortunately, she wasn't alone. The three other members of her party were happy to step in and hack away at the Sentinel, eventually dealing enough damage to drop its HP to zero while she poked and prodded away at it. If anyone found it strange that the monster never focused on another player, they didn't say anything.

Everyone's «Prestige» Skill functioned differently. This was a fact that Argo had discovered after paying a couple of the other players who had achieved it on the exclusive server for closed beta testers and having them demonstrate its effects when possible.

Kirito's acted as a repellent for weaker monsters, but also attracted stronger ones, which made it excellent for grinding. Pitohui, a closed beta tester who somehow managed to Prestige «Singing», claimed that hers allowed her to use the Skill on monsters. Heathcliff, one of the more famous clearers among the closed beta testers who chose to Prestige «Shield», stated that his prevented any shield he had equipped from losing durability. As for Yuuki, her «Prestige» Skill caused any monster she locked eyes with to focus solely on her, as if they were dueling, for as long as she maintained eye contact.

Illfang roared angrily at the destruction of his Ruin Kobold Sentinels, Ikki and his group having killed theirs as well. Its eyes flashed red as it reared its sword back.

"Agil-san!" Diavel shouted.

"TOOOOH!"

The boss rocked forwards on its feet when Agil landed a punishing axe blow to its exposed back, successfully interrupting the activation of its Sword Art. They weren't sure if this boss had any sort of Skill that blocked such a thing from occurring, but either it didn't or the Skill was inactive during its first bar of HP.

"Break! Strikers! Switch!"

Being the players capable of the highest amount of damage in the lowest amount of time on average, Kirito, Yuuki, Ikki, and Asuna formed a special squad of attackers known as "strikers" who would attack whenever the boss was vulnerable. Putting the boss in such a state was known as "breaking" it. Meanwhile, Diavel's party would move to support Ikki's while Agil's did the same for Kirito's. Everyone else gave them room to maneuver for their Sword Arts, unnecessary since the only Arts that moved players this early were restricted to «Sonic Leap», «Piercing Thrust», and «Tackle», but good practice for when more such Arts were available.

The four players attacked from opposite sides in pairs. Whenever Kirito would finish one of his Art strings, Asuna and Ikki would take over, alternating using the actual «Switch» Combat Skill that forced monsters to change targets and conferred bonuses to those that used it properly, while Yuuki bounced the boss back towards the siblings after each of their Arts as they waited for Kirito to recover.

 _Fifty-eight… Fifty-nine… Sixty!_

After his mental countdown was finished, Kirito signaled to the other strikers to back off as they waited to see if Illfang would recover. Sure enough, the boss let out a roar and summoned more Kobold Soldiers than there were players. In addition, three more Ruin Kobold Sentinels dropped down from the ceiling.

"Back to your positions!" Diavel ordered. "Next cycle! Tanks, be ready!"

Kirito and Yuuki retreated, Yuuki locking eyes with one of the Sentinels as she ran and causing it to chase her. Kirito also executed a quick «Sonic Leap» to put himself next to another, chained «Slant», «Horizontal», «Bash», and «Vertical» together, and used «Sonic Leap» again to bring himself closer to his party, who rushed to meet him halfway since he was frozen in place. Ikki and Asuna opted to let the designated «Throwing Weapons» user in their group do his job. Seconds later, a dagger buried itself in the eye of the third Sentinel, causing it to let out its own roar and charge at the man who'd thrown it.

"Look out! Back away!"

Kirito turned back towards the boss in time to see it spin around like a top, throwing three players back who had not reacted quickly enough to avoid the attack. That was half of Diavel's group temporarily incapacitated.

"Tanks! Switch!"

To the man's credit, Diavel's voice was calm and authoritative. Agil stepped in with the same skill he'd used to attack the boss before, this time to get its attention. Illfang saw it coming since the man was no longer behind it and blocked his axe with its shield, creating a resounding thud. Not to be discouraged, the other members of Agil's party laid into the boss with their own heavy attacks, their combined assault enough to prevent it from simply bashing its shield into Agil and continuing to wreak havoc on Diavel's retreating party members.

"Two down! One up!"

When a player took serious damage, there were three assessments of its severity. Players that were "down" needed to take a break and heal, usually taking several seconds due to the amount of health lost. Players that were "up" could continue fighting immediately. Players that were "out" were permanently disabled, usually due to loss of a limb or a status ailment that the raid group as a whole no longer had the means to heal.

The floor boss was nearing the end of its second bars of HP. They were halfway there. Agil, paying attention to his party's progress, called for them to back off just as the bar was about to empty, but one overzealous player decided to unleash a Sword Art before doing so. Illfang roared as his second bar of HP shattered to pieces.

"Dammit, Jules!"

"I'm sorry!"

Any further words were cut off by the appearance of even more Kobold Soldiers than last time, along with three more Ruin Kobold Sentinels dropping from the darkness above.

"Shit! There're too many!" Ikki shouted. "Guys, you handle this one! Asuna, with me!"

"On it!"

The siblings left the Sentinel currently engaged with their party and attracted the attention of another.

"Everyone, leave this one to me!" Kirito commanded his own party. "Yuuki, you take another!"

"Roger!"

Yuuki immediately let out a sharp whistle while running at one of the newly-spawned Sentinels.

"Over here! Yeah you! The ugly one! Wait, you're all kinda ugly. Uhhh. The slightly uglier one! Okay fine, I'll settle for you!"

She danced around the Sentinel that had happened to wander closer to her in its pursuit of one of Diavel's party members, slashing away at it while luring it towards an empty spot in the room.

The Kobold Soldiers, despite not being very threatening alone, were too numerous to ignore. Agil and his group were divided between the boss and the Sentinel Yuuki had originally been aiming for, but many found themselves besieged by the smaller Soldiers. Diavel was doing his best to clear them out, but they had just enough HP that one of his Sword Arts failed to kill.

"Kirito-san! Switch with me!"

"What?" Kirito parried the sword of the Sentinel he was fighting and «Bash»ed it in the head to give himself room to breathe. "Are you sure?"

"Do it! I'll survive!"

Diavel ran over to him, the three Soldiers he had been fighting following in his wake. Kirito didn't question his orders any further and disengaged from the Sentinel, making quick work of the Soldiers once he was in range. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure their leader wasn't in immediate danger, and continued slaying Soldiers when he saw Diavel holding his own.

It took several minutes for the chaos to die down somewhat. In that amount of time, eight more players had been damaged enough that they required healing, and Illfang had landed solid hits on both Agil and the man responsible for the situation, Jules. The two men were kneeling off to the side, being defended by Kirito and Yuuki as they faced off against two Sentinels, one that Agil had failed to kill before he was injured, and the other that Yuuki had been soloing. All of the Soldiers had been killed at this point, leaving only the tougher minions and the boss, who was once again being engaged by Diavel and his party. Ikki and his group were fighting a Sentinel of their own.

Illfang roared again, rearing its sword back in the same stance it had taken earlier. This time, there was nobody available to stop it.

"BRACE!"

As one, the players close to the boss held their swords defensively in front of their bodies and took a step back before setting their feet. The boss' sword lashed out in a vicious sweep that knocked all of them backwards, even those that had been out of range. One unlucky player was launched towards the Sentinel fighting against Ikki's team. As if on cue, the monster stopped what it was doing and turned to face the player flying at it. Nothing Ikki or his party members did was able to stop it as it roared and sliced the player in two. The halves of the man burst into polygons in midair.

"Instant… death…?" someone whispered.

The twenty-three remaining players were silent. Illfang made a rasping sound. It took Kirito a moment to realize the monster was laughing.

"RAAAAAHHH!"

He struck out with renewed force against the Sentinels he was facing. His shout shocked the others into action as they let out similar cries of outrage. Yuuki's normally cheery expression had vanished, replaced with a look of intense concentration as she avoided attacks by a hair and countered with Sword Arts from every angle without pause. It fell to her assault within seconds. Behind him, Kirito could hear Agil and the other man roar in fury. A moment later, they rushed past him and blasted the other Sentinel away.

"Leave that one to us! Get the boss!"

Kirito nodded and dashed off, Yuuki following close behind. The boss turned and focused on the much shorter girl instantly due to her «Prestige» Skill.

 _No more games._

«Sonic Leap» covered the rest of the distance between him and his target.

 _Won't look at me? Fine then._

His body blurred into action faster than his mind could process. Three slashes cut three lines into the boss' stomach.

 **Congratulations! «One-Handed Sword» has leveled up to 10!**

He didn't need to read the rest of the message. Having maxed out the Skill five times over, he was intimately familiar with what Sword Arts unlocked at what levels. His sword traced a 'V' into the boss, followed by another sideways 'V'. «Vertical Arc» and «Horizontal Arc» were the first multi-hit skills offered by the «One-Handed Sword» Skill. Illfang roared at him as its HP decreased to the halfway-point of the third bar. The sound was cut off when Yuuki stepped in and repeated the same sequence of Arts, only she had used Kirito's shoulders as a stepping stone and traced her lines into the boss' face and upper torso. The giant monster recoiled in pain.

They didn't let up. Over and over they alternated, taking turns cutting open more of the boss and whittling away at its HP until finally, it let out a roar that physically pushed them back, as well as throwing every player in the room backwards onto the floor. Kirito rolled with the impact and kipped to his feet. He watched along with the few others who had scrambled to their feet fast enough as Illfang discarded its sword and shield and reached behind its back. A menacing double-headed axe materialized out of thin air, which it brandished at the players.

There were no more Kobold Soldiers. All of the Ruin Kobold Sentinels had been slain, and no new ones appeared from the ceiling. Instead, the boss let out its loudest roar yet and raised its axe above its head. Kirito's eyes widened.

"SWORD ART! BRACE!"

The axe descended. The entire chamber shook. Kirito was thrown several meters backwards, his back colliding painfully with the floor. It took his hearing a few seconds to restore itself as the telltale ringing sound associated with an explosion faded away. He shook his head and looked around to assess the damage. His mouth went dry.

One… two… three… twenty. He counted twenty players. With himself, that made twenty-one. The attack had killed two, and the boss hadn't been anywhere near them. In addition, almost all of the remaining players looked to be knocked out, which was impossible considering they were in a game. Kirito's gaze drifted over to the status bars of his party members. His and Yuuki's HP were slightly above half, while everyone else's was hovering around a third. In addition, they all had small icons that depicted three stars with a yellow swirl in the middle.

 _Daze? No… K.O.? This early? Only the tenth floor boss had an attack that inflicted that!_

He heard a groan off to the side, followed by a couple more as players slowly recovered. Illfang seemed content to watch, his red eyes darting back and forth between people as they stirred.

"Ugh, what hit me…?"

Kirito saw Ikki push himself to his feet.

"Asuna? Wait, Asuna?! Asuna!"

He was at the unconscious girl's side in an instant, shaking her, but to no avail.

"Asuna! Wake up! C'mon!"

"She's knocked out," Kirito said, drawing the man's attention. "She won't wake up until the status condition expires."

"Knocked out? Is that like Daze?"

He nodded at the man. Now calmer, but no less angry, Ikki kept an eye on the boss to make sure it wasn't doing anything and jogged over, almost tripping a couple of times as he did so.

"So what's the plan?"

Kirito looked over at Diavel, who was one of the unconscious players. At least he hadn't died. He was a good leader. The players needed someone like him, someone who could give them hope and direct them effectively. Kirito couldn't be that person. Not after what had happened to his Kendo team. He turned his attention towards the boss. It still hadn't moved from its spot.

"I kill the boss. That's the plan."

He dragged himself to his feet. He staggered a little, but was held up by the man next to him. Moments later, he noticed that Yuuki was also slowly getting to her feet and holding her head. Some distance away, he saw Agil trying but failing to do the same.

"There's only three of us," Ikki noted. "And the little miss there doesn't look too good. Not to mention my weapon broke." He then swayed in place. "And I may or may not have a concussion. Oh wait, no. That's just the Daze."

"There's only one of him. That makes it fair."

"Heh. Remind me to cook you something after this is over."

"I wanna- ow… I wanna come too!" Yuuki chirped, staggering in place.

"Of course! Everyone's invited! It'll be our victory feast!" Ikki paused, his face growing deadly serious. "So you better be there, got it?"

Instead of answering, Kirito picked up his Anneal Blade from the ground where it had conveniently fallen nearby. He took a few practice swings and nodded. Next, he examined its properties. It would definitely need repairs, but it wasn't in danger of breaking as long as he didn't try to block the boss' monstrous Sword Arts with it. Not that it would have stopped him.

"I'll be there if you promise to cook extra. I miss pot roast."

"You got yourself a deal, young man."

Yuuki tried to find her own sword, but nearly fell over in the process. She was held up by Ikki, who had made his way over to her. She smiled gratefully at him, but when she tried to move, she found her arm gripped tightly.

"Sorry, Yuuki-chan. You're sitting this one out with me."

"But I don't wanna!"

"I'll be back, Yuuki," Kirito reassured her. "Don't worry. I'm Super MonHunMan, remember? No monster could ever beat me."

Ikki's eyes widened in realization.

"Wait, you're…"

Kirito brandished his sword in Illfang's direction, before resting the blade on his back in preparation for «Sonic Leap». The boss seemed to react to his stance, roaring a challenge as it readied its enormous axe.

"Kirito…"

He met eyes with Yuuki.

"Go for it!"

He smiled.

"Mm."

 _That's right… No monster could ever beat me…_

His feet left the ground, his sword pointed at the boss as the system propelled him forward.

 _I could never lose to an A.I. Something bound by a set of rules. Unchanging. Unable to adapt._

His Art deposited him at the boss' feet. The axe was already in motion.

Memories of his solo boss clears flooded his mind. He recalled both of them. The first time, he'd succeeded through sheer persistence, taking him dozens of tries until he had finally been able to take it down by exploiting its A.I. pattern. The Cardinal System had awarded him with the Extra Skill «Exceed» for his impossible accomplishment of defeating a floor boss by himself. The second time, he'd only needed a single attempt. His reward…?

He moved unnaturally fast, ducking under the arc of the axe swing.

 _Yes. This was just like every other boss battle. He would beat it the same way he always did._

«Exceed» allowed him to equip all his «Prestige» Skills as Extra Skills, in addition to giving him a bonus stat point every time he leveled up «Prestige» and, more recently, allowing him to use the «Prestige» Skills of anyone else who possessed the Skill. He didn't know if Yuuki had not tried or if he was simply the only one who could since he did in fact possess both «Exceed» and «Prestige: Exceed», but being able to equip all «Prestige» Skills meant something special to him.

 _Just like every other boss battle._

It meant he no longer needed to max out «One-Handed Sword».

…

"Hm? Oh! A customer? Hi there! Welcome to Lisbeth's Smith Shop! Well, it's just a portable anvil at the moment and I'm renting the forge, but I'll have my own building eventually!"

Kirito smiled genially at the pink-haired girl kneeling on a mat and placed his sword on the anvil.

"I need this repaired."

"A repair? Alright, I hear ya! Just let me examine… Woah! What the heck did you do to this?! It's almost broken!"

"I used it to fight the first floor boss. Then I went and cleared all the dungeons on the second floor. I kinda forgot to come in until now."

Lisbeth blinked and stared at the effeminate-looking boy in front of her. He had short black hair and was wearing a long black cloak with a metal breastplate covering his chest. He couldn't have been any older than maybe 19, if you were being generous, and could have been as young as 15. All in all, he did not look very powerful or particularly threatening.

"I'm sorry, I think I heard you wrong. Did you say you cleared every dungeon on the second floor?"

"…Yes?"

The two of them looked at each other in silence for a few seconds.

"Ahahaha! Good one! 'Cleared every dungeon on the second floor'… Ahahaha!"

Kirito tilted his head in confusion. Was it that difficult to believe?

"Ah…" Lisbeth wiped a tear from her eye. "Anyway, whatever you say, tough guy. The second floor was just unlocked less than a week ago. There's no way you could have gone through every dungeon already. There's supposed to be three of 'em." She reached behind her for her hammer.

"Four, actually."

"Oh, did they find another? Well there ya go." She raised the hammer, but paused. "Ah, I forgot. That'll be 4,126 Cor. Can you pay? If you can't and lie to me, I'll tell the police."

"Don't worry. I can."

"Okey-dokey then." She began hammering away. "So… what's your name, anyway?"

"Kirito."

"'Kirito'? Isn't that the name of one of the clearers? Did you two just pick the same name by coincidence? I know a couple of people like that. Must be hard to have the same name as such a famous guy."

"Uhh, yeah. Sure. Let's go with that. Mistaken identity does kinda suck, though it's also funny sometimes."

"I'll bet." She finished her task in seconds. "There! Good as new. Will that be all?"

"I've got another sword here."

"Another one? Why do you have two? Actually, never mind. I'm not gonna turn away more business." After her examination of the second sword Kirito had laid on the anvil, she said, "Not broken enough for me to charge per point of durability, so 1,000 Cor. Take it or leave it."

"I'll pay."

"Score! I mean, thank you for your patronage." She hurriedly began hammering away at it before he could take it back. "Aaand done. That'll be 5,126 Cor in all."

Kirito double-checked the amount on the trade window and confirmed the trade. Lisbeth did the same and nodded in satisfaction. The two swords were picked up and stored back in their owner's inventory as he thanked the shop owner.

"No problemo! Pleasure doing business with you! Come again!"

"I will. Goodbye Rika-san."

Lisbeth watched the boy walk away with a smile. After he disappeared around the corner, she stored her anvil away and tapped the wooden signpost to change her shop's status from Open to Closed. The business day was pretty much over by now since the sun was setting. Five thousand Cor was a lot for a simple repair job, even if she stored half away like she usually did. She wouldn't have to worry about food or the rent on her forge for at least a few days, maybe even a week. As she was getting ready to return to her room in one of the Town of Beginnings many inns, a thought occurred to her.

"Wait. What did he call me?"

* * *

 **Congratulations! Floor 1 Boss Clear!**

 **Last Hit Bonus:** «Coat of Midnight»

 **Last Hit Player:** Kirito

* * *

 **New Skills:**

 **Weapon Skills**

«Shield»

«Spear»

«Two-Handed Axe»

«Two-Handed Sword»

 **Combat Skills**

«Scapegoat»: Transfers a portion of aggro gained by party members to the user. Level up to increase likelihood of being targeted by monsters over other party members.

«Steadfast»: Increases the amount of damage the user can sustain before having an action interrupted. Level up to decrease damage taken while acting.

«Switch»: Transfers a portion of all aggro possessed by other players with «Switch» to the user when the user attacks the same monster as them. Level up to increase the delay in activity after a monster switches targets to the user.

 **Auxiliary Skills**

«Bartering»: Reduces the price of goods bought from NPCs and increases the price of goods sold to NPCs. Level up to boost the effects.

«Chivalry»: Reduces damage taken by the user when protecting an ally. Created by Diavel (Extra Skill).

«Cooking»: Enables the automated creation of foodstuffs using appropriate tools and ingredients. Level up to increase success rate and unlock new recipes.

«Diplomacy»: Enables the creation of treaties and other binding contracts between player guilds and NPC organizations. Level up to increase the maximum number of entities bound and duration of agreements.

«Strong Grip»: Allows two-handed weapons to be wielded with one hand if the user has at least double the required stats of the weapon. Level up to reduce off-hand penalties when wielding a two-handed weapon with one hand.

 **Extra Skills**

«Prestige (Yuuki)»: Forces any monster to target the user for as long as the user is focused on it.

«Prestige: Exceed (Kirito)»: All Prestige Skills can be equipped as Extra Skills. Additional effects unknown.

* * *

 **A/N:** Argo will never participate in a boss raid, nor will she be an active combatant in general. I have other things in mind for her later. Sinon will join the boss raids eventually.

If soloing a boss rewards «Exceed», why would doing the exact same thing on a more difficult boss not be worthy of another «Exceed»? Only, Kirito already has it, so the Cardinal System, being the adaptive artificial intelligence that it is, decides he must have achieved Prestige! After all, that's the only way to get two copies of the same Skill.

* * *

Next chapter: «What Makes Us Human»! NPCs? Hah! You must be thinking of those boring programs in the shape of people that repeat the same thing over and over! Well, the Cardinal System has something to say to you! More importantly, a certain dark elf with no nudity taboos has something to say to Kirito!


	4. Ch3 - What Makes Us Human

**Chapter 3 – What Makes Us Human**

* * *

 **Previous Chapter Synopsis:**

Raid practice with Kirito doesn't go as planned when Yuuki inadvertently manages to teleport herself to the dungeon boss' room and solos it. Investigating their shared «Exceed» Skill yields no appreciable results. In the boss meeting, Lind, a close friend of the deceased Kibaou, vows revenge on his friend's unknown killers. Diavel is "elected" leader of the raid after Kirito refuses the role despite the urging of Argo, Yuuki, and Ikki, but both Agil and Asuna agree with the choice. In the fight against Illfang, all of the players except for Kirito, Yuuki, and Ikki are knocked unconscious in the boss' final phase. Kirito makes use of his ability to dual wield by equipping two copies of «One-Handed Sword», one of which he was allowed to keep from the beta due to having achieved Prestige for the «Exceed» Skill, and finishes the fight on his own.

* * *

"Ah! Asuna-chan! …and Ikki-san."

"Hello, Liz-chan."

"Yo, Lisbeth! How's business?"

"Worse, now that you're here. And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me without honorifics? Shoo shoo."

Ikki laughed good-naturedly.

"Alright, alright. I can tell when I'm not wanted. You two have fun with your girl talk while I go somewhere else, since my money's obviously not good enough for this amazing shop."

"Wait, no! Come back!"

"What's that? Do I hear a 'please'?"

"He's lying, Liz-chan. He doesn't need repairs or anything."

"Aw, come on, Asuna-chan! Why you always gotta go and ruin my fun?"

Lisbeth glared at the man and readied her hammer as if she was about to throw it, causing him to beat a hasty retreat around the corner. After he was gone, she sighed tiredly.

"I don't know how you deal with him, Asuna-chan."

"Years of experience," the chestnut-haired girl replied primly.

"Hmm. I dunno if any number of years would make me want to hit him less…"

"Well, I do hit him from time to time."

"Only 'time to time'?"

"Liz!"

Asuna pouted at her friend as she laughed, but she soon joined her, giggling at how much amusement Lisbeth seemed to be getting out of their interactions. The two of them spent a while like that before the blacksmith calmed down.

"Ahhh… I missed you Asuna-chan. Do you have any idea how scared I was?"

"You've only told me every single time I've visited. And we just saw each other two days ago!"

"Meh. Who's keeping track? Anyway, did you have any luck finding your mystery friend yet?"

"Leafa? No, I still don't know where she is."

"Well, have you tried PMing her?"

"What?"

"Messaging her. You know her name, right?"

Asuna blinked.

"How do I message her?"

Lisbeth blinked back.

"…You're kidding, right? You've never sent a PM? What level are you?"

"I just leveled up to 18. Why?"

"You unlock messages at level 10. It's why most players just stop there. Here, watch."

The pink-haired girl swiped downwards to open her menu and navigated over to her friends list. From there, she tapped on Asuna's name and selected the 'Private Message' option. She typed a short message and hit 'Send'. Not even a second later, Asuna jumped as a system notification popped up in the middle of her field of view. She opened it and saw the message from her friend.

 _Lisbeth: Try replying to this message._

Asuna obediently hit the 'Reply' button at the bottom and took her time typing using the holographic keyboard that popped up out of nowhere. When she was finished, she hit 'Send'. Lisbeth opened the message immediately.

 _Asuna: Did I do it right?_

"Yep. You did it. Now all you gotta do is edit the recipient so that it has your friend's name. If there're multiple people with the same name, it'll send it to every single one of them, so don't worry about that."

"Oh, wow. That's so useful! Thanks, Liz-chan!"

"No problem! Good luck with finding your friend!"

Lisbeth gave her a thumbs-up.

"Oh, and get this! A couple of days ago, some guy came by who had the same name as that one clearer you told me about!"

"Which one?"

"Uh. Kirilo… Kililo… Kitty-roe?"

"Kirito?"

"That's the one! He looked so girly and stuff that there was no way he was that badass clearer! I felt sorry for him since he probably hates sharing a name with someone that famous. Oh, and he also gave me two swords to repair! And he actually paid me a thousand Cor to repair one that was barely broken!"

Asuna gave her friend a look.

"Liz…"

"What? Why are you looking at me like that? It's not my fault! I warned him and everything!"

"No. Not that. The person you met… That was the actual Kirito."

Lisbeth stared for a second before chuckling nervously.

"Ahaha. Good one, Asuna-chan! You really got me…"

She trailed off as her friend kept a straight face.

"…Seriously?"

…

Kirito walked up to the edge of the forest and sat down to wait patiently. He was accompanied by Argo, Yuuki, and Sinon, each of which passed the time in her own way. Argo busied herself with her PMs, having risen to prominence once more over the past week as the game's premier information broker "the Rat". Yuuki sat down behind him and leaned against his back. He could feel her getting comfortable and smiled wryly at her behavior. Sinon took the most up-to-date copy of the Beginner's Guide out of her inventory and began rereading one of its sections while shooting glances over at the duo leaning against each other every so often.

After about five to ten minutes of waiting, a shadowy figure appeared from within the trees. Whoever it was took great care not to make any noise or attract unnecessary attention, examining Kirito and his companions critically. Almost a full minute later, a hood was lowered to reveal the softly smiling face of Kizmel the dark elf, an NPC that Kirito had saved in her quest during the open beta period. She and the portion of the Forest of Wavering Mists she currently lived in were on a different floor from the beta, something he had first discovered a week ago when he had been mapping most of the floor out. Only the first floor had a cartographer that sold its map data, the rest of the magical floating castle of Aincrad supposedly being unexplored territory in the game's lore.

"Greetings, Kirito. Be welcome."

Another, lighter-skinned elf soon appeared out of nowhere, launching herself at Kirito and tackling him and Yuuki to the ground. The unprepared girl let out a small cry as she was enveloped in a hug along with Kirito, but soon returned it happily. The bright-eyed forest elf Tilnel, sister of Kizmel, smiled at the little girl she had inadvertently captured in her arms.

"Hiya, Kirito! How're you?"

"Hello, Tilnel, Kizmel," Kirito responded while squirming in the elf's surprisingly strong embrace. He gave up after Yuuki also grabbed onto him, nixing his chances of escape. Argo and Sinon viewed his predicament with no small amount of amusement.

"Any luck?" he asked.

The violet-haired elf shook her head sadly while her sister's ears drooped.

"I am afraid I still have yet to find any trace of my people in this section of the forest," Kizmel admitted. "My sister and I appear to be the only elves who call this place home. These lands are also unfamiliar to me, as is the human settlement of 'Urbus'."

"Yeah!" Tilnel agreed. "Where'd Zumfut go? Did all the humans migrate somewhere else? And where's the rest of the forest?"

"Well, o' course it's unfamiliar to ya," Argo commented. "Yer both a floor below where yer supposed to be."

At the look of confusion on both women's faces, Kirito hurriedly cut in.

"Ah, sorry. These are my friends that I told you about last time we met. That's Argo. She's a very knowledgeable person about Aincrad in general. I thought she might be able to help you out, so I brought her with me. Over there is Sinon. And this is-"

"I'm Yuuki! Konno Yuuki! I like you! What's your name?" the cheery girl asked the elf hugging her.

"Well, aren't you just the cutest! I'm Tilnel! Nice to meet'cha! That's my sister Kizmel over there. Go say hi!"

Kirito blinked as Yuuki practically teleported in front of the dark elf. Kizmel looked lost as she regarded the overly-friendly girl.

"Nice to meet you Kizmel! I'm Yuuki! Wanna hug? Is that something elves do?"

"Well, no, it's more just Tilnel that does that, but I will give you a hug if you want-"

"Yay!"

Yuuki threw herself at Kizmel in an enthusiastic hug, though the woman managed to remain standing just barely. The dark elf smiled at the much younger girl's demeanor and wrapped her own arms around her warmly.

"It's nice to meet you too, Yuuki. I am called Kizmel."

"Can I call you Mel?"

"I would prefer you did not shorten my name…"

"I don't mind! You can call me Nel!"

The forest elf hopped to her feet, dragging Kirito up with her. Due to the fact that she was taller than him, his legs dangled in the air as he fought to free himself from her grasp. She caught on to the fact that he was uncomfortable and let him go, offering a light, but sincere apology that he waved off.

"Okay! Nel-chan and Kizmel-chan then!"

"…'-chan'?" the elves asked in unison.

Kirito sighed, while Argo and Sinon giggled harder.

…

The two elves led the trio of players through the natural mists of the forest until they arrived at a clearing. Two beds made of what appeared to be leaves were set in the middle of the open area, and an unlit campfire could be seen off to the side with a several sticks planted in the ground around the stones at an angle so that if the fire was lit, anything on the sticks would be cooked. Sinon's eyes homed in on the two bows and quivers full of arrows that were lying on the ground next to the beds.

"So these two, sorry, _you two_ ," Argo turned from Kirito to address the elf sisters directly, "are former NPCs that Ki-bou helped out during the open beta period?"

The two elves exchanged a look with each other. Kizmel was the one who answered.

"I am still not sure of the terms you are using, but Kirito did indeed help us about a month ago in brokering peace between our people. He is also responsible for reuniting me with my sister during the Elf War."

"That's right!" Tilnel chimed in. "He's a hero! I mean, sure, he did kind of play dirty by helping both the forest elves and the dark elves, but if not for him, I'm pretty sure one of us would be dead." She punctuated her words by wrapping Kirito in a side hug. He didn't resist, knowing that if he tried to, either Yuuki or Kizmel herself would intervene against him.

"Ohoho… So you were two-timin' the elves all along?"

"Don't say it like that!"

"Also, you are incorrect. We elves are a polyamorous race. My sister and I are actually the result of a union between our father and two separate mothers."

Argo was brought up short by Kizmel's explanation.

"Wait… then the two of you…? With Ki-bou…?"

"No!" Kirito denied.

"We wish," Tilnel huffed. "Kirito rejected us!"

"He rejected you, sister."

"You were too afraid to even ask!"

"That is a blatant falsehood! I simply did not believe he was attracted to us! He is human!"

"Were you not paying attention when we took a bath together?! Human males have dicks too, y'know!"

Sinon choked on air, while Argo's eyes lit up. Yuuki blushed, but pretended to tilt her head in confusion. Kirito's eyes widened in alarm at how the conversation had derailed into territory he _really_ wanted to stay away from. Again, he questioned why the programmers felt the need to incorporate certain "features" such as realistic nude models. Why were arousal and appropriate bodily reactions to it necessary in an online game about fighting monsters?

"Wait, what was that about a bath?" Argo asked with a grin.

"NOTHING! Nothing at all!" Kirito shouted, shooting a withering glare at Tilnel. He turned away with a blush after she smiled back at him seductively and pulled the collar of her silken shirt down. Ignoring the giggling from the way-too-lifelike NPC, he cleared his throat.

"Anyway! Yes, both Kizmel and Tilnel were part of a quest chain in the beta. It actually turned out to be an Epic Quest that spanned floors 3 to 9."

"Really? How come I never heard about it? Were you withholdin' stuff from me, Ki-bou…?"

"No! I mean, yes, but I had a good reason for it!"

"He was sworn to secrecy by our queens," Kizmel explained.

"Yep yep! If he told any humans about the War, he'd have been hunted down by both our races! Not to mention we'd have taken over Zumfut and had the Forest consume it," Tilnel added.

"Huh? What do you mean, take over? You can do that?" Yuuki asked curiously.

Kirito sighed at the perplexed look on her face and the suspicious look on Argo's.

"We already know the Cardinal System is capable of changing large portions of Aincrad's geography as part of a quest," he began. "This includes towns."

"Right… the settlement of Frieven Village on the 8th Floor was periodically invaded by Treants once a week," Argo said thoughtfully. "When the players let the monsters overrun the village during the last week to see what would happen, it turned into a hostile zone. Are you saying…?"

"Yeah. The elves threatened the same thing on the third floor."

"No wonder ya didn't seem to be surprised when it happened!"

"You took a bath with both of them…?"

Everyone else looked at Sinon, whose mind had just rebooted.

"…Sinonon, were you thinkin' about that this entire time?"

"Do the elves even have nude models? Like… all the… y'know? Bits?"

"I never knew ya were such a closet perv, Sinonon. I'm not sure if my opinion of you has gone up or down."

Meanwhile, Tilnel stood up. Kirito got a bad feeling. Sure enough, when she carelessly shrugged her cloak off and made to pull her shirt over her head, he lunged at her and tried to prevent her from doing so. His efforts were futile since her STR was apparently off the charts. After the forest elf finished stripping, much to everyone's dismay except her sister's, Kizmel followed suit. Soon, the two elves stood completely naked in the middle of the clearing.

Yuuki and Sinon both seemed mesmerized by their contrasting skin tones, looking between Tilnel and her sister repeatedly. The forest elf smiled mischievously and hugged her sister from behind, cupping her modest assets and pushing them together. The blue-haired girl fainted. Yuuki blushed even harder and hid behind Kirito, who was desperately trying, and failing, to take his eyes off of the pale pink of Kizmel's nipples as Tilnel continued playing with her sister's breasts.

"Stop that," Kizmel said, swatting at her sister's hands and eliciting a pout from her. "Anyway, I trust this answers any questions about our physiology. We are no different from humans save for our ears."

"Very nice!" Argo cheered. "The two of you are stunning! Beautiful! Ki-bou, how could you turn that down?"

"Are you being serious right now?!" Kirito asked in disbelief, snapping out of his own trance at being addressed. "You two! Please, put your clothes back on!"

"Why? We have nothing to be ashamed of. Your silly human customs do not apply to us, not to mention we are in technically in our home. Are we not entitled to dress how we like in the privacy of our abode?"

"Yeah, Ki-ri-to. Besides, from the way you keep staring at Kizmel's boobs, I'd say you don't really mind. Though, I'm a little jealous."

Kirito's blush ascended to new levels as the forest elf stepped out from behind Kizmel and essentially began playing with herself in plain view.

"Don't you like my body? Oh?"

Tilnel paused as Yuuki latched on to her front, resting her head on the elf's pillowy chest.

"Yuuki-chan! What are you doing?!"

Argo overcame her own blushing long enough to giggle at Kirito's distress.

"Ohohoho! Yuki-chan, how daring!"

"Hehe, see? She's got the right idea. Wanna try it?"

The forest elf stopped her teasing as she realized she was shaking. To be more accurate, the girl clutching tightly to her was shaking like a leaf. Kirito's concern overrode his embarrassment as he jumped to his feet.

"Yuuki? What's wrong?"

A sniffle answered him.

"Aww. There, there, Yuuki," Tilnel whispered soothingly, all hints of seduction gone from her demeanor as she comfortingly stroked the girl's hair. "There's nothing to be sad about, is there? I'm not going anywhere." She forestalled Kirito's advance by sending him a warning look. Kizmel also barred his way, shaking her head slightly. He belatedly noted that she had, at some point, redressed herself.

Tilnel began to hum as she rocked back and forth with Yuuki crying into her chest. Her humming continued as she sat down and pulled the girl into her lap gently. Soon, she began singing in a language neither Kirito nor Argo recognized.

"Nee… san…"

Argo grimaced.

"I'll tell you later," she said in response to Kirito's silent interrogation. He nodded once in acceptance.

"Perhaps we should leave them be," Kizmel suggested. "Come, there are other places we can talk. There is no safer place than here, and Tilnel is more than capable of fending off any monsters that dare to intrude on our living space, even without clothing."

She led Kirito and Argo out of the clearing, the sound of Tilnel's peaceful lullaby following them as they left.

…

"So you mean to tell me that this land, this 'floor', is but one of one hundred such 'floors'? And my forest has somehow been transported to a land it was not previously in by this man you call Kayaba Akihiko?"

"It could also be the Cardinal System, but I doubt it," Argo replied.

"I see." The dark elf turned towards Kirito. "Then, if I understand correctly, I might find the rest of my people if I simply travel to another floor?"

"That's our best guess. The other elves may be living in a different forest somewhere else," he answered. "Your Queen's castle was on the 9th Floor in the beta."

"Hm. This does not explain how I was able to traverse the woods to it directly, but I suppose the Forest works in mysterious ways…" Kizmel nodded to herself. "Very well. It seems I will be the first dark elf to traverse the fabled lands cut from the earth during the Great Separation. My Queen will be happy to hear that one of her warriors has done so, and I am sure she is looking forward to seeing you again as well. How does one travel to another floor?"

"Well… the gateway to the next floor is always guarded by a powerful monster called a Floor Boss."

"Are they like the Nephila Regina we faced?"

"Much more powerful," Kirito responded, suppressing a shudder as he remembered the fight against the giant spider in the beta as part of Kizmel's original quest line.

According to the dark elf, the events of the Elf War had taken place about a month ago, which was accurate chronologically, but didn't quite add up in other ways. For example, she saw nothing wrong with Kirito's current appearance, despite it being much younger than that of his avatar during the beta, and claimed he had looked the same as when they last saw each other. When asked about her own quest line, Tilnel had responded much the same way. The kicker was that, according to the chronology of the War as it was recorded by elven historians, Kirito could not have possibly helped both the forest elves and the dark elves, because many events that were part of quests took place simultaneously.

This further reinforced Kirito's secret belief that the two quests were meant to be part of a larger quest chain with branching paths. His accidental meeting with Tilnel while on a scouting mission for the dark elves could have bugged the quest out, since he was had escaped her pursuit in the Forest of Wavering Mists using a Teleport Crystal. Normally, he would have been required to kill her as part of the quest, but he recognized her name and appearance from a story Kizmel had told him. The fact that she admitted to searching for her long-lost sister was also a huge hint. It was also possible that this was yet another hidden quest condition set by Cardinal. Either way, by sparing Tilnel, Kirito had been able to then report to Kizmel that her sister was still alive and escort her to the location.

Upon reuniting the two sisters, he'd been awarded a special quest item that, when he showed it to the dark elf queen much later, resulted in him being granted an audience with the other elven queen. Both queens had then charged him with acting as the mediator between their races, swearing him to secrecy lest the conflict start anew and engulf the player-occupied town located in the Forest of Wavering Mists. He was given a «Queen's Knightsword» from each of the queens for his service, as if the system had known he was a dual-wielder. The dark elf version was fittingly colored black with red accents, while the sword he received from the forest elves was colored white and green accents. He hoped to get at least one of them again. They were amazing weapons for something obtained on the 9th Floor.

Kirito was shaken out of his reminiscing by another question from Kizmel.

"Are these Floor Bosses so powerful that we cannot defeat them with our combined strength?"

"Nah. Ki-bou may be strong, but he ain't _that_ strong. Well, he might just be, given what happened during the last boss raid, but there's a much better option!" Argo said.

"Which would be?"

"Join us! Join the clearers!"

"The… 'clearers'?"

"Okay, this is gonna get old real fast. Here." Argo handed the dark elf a copy of the Beginner's Guide.

"What is this?"

"Read it!"

"I cannot read your language."

"…Are ya being serious?"

"I assure you that I would not jest about such a thing. Regardless, you are suggesting that my sister and I simply join your group, correct? We would be happy to do so."

Argo grinned widely.

"Great! Done! Wait, hold up. How strong are ya, anyway?"

"I am confident I could at least fight on even terms with you."

"I'm not much of a fighter, though, so that's not sayin' much. What level are you?"

"Oh. I am currently level 35."

"Say what?!"

Kirito smiled wryly.

"She was the same level in the beta. She's supposed to be an elite NPC on the third floor, remember?"

"Oh right… I keep forgetting that. So… what Skills do you have?"

"I possess «Bow», «Rapier», «Reflex», «Fencer», «Hunting», «Tracking», and «Adaptation». In addition, my «Mistmoon Cloak» gives me access to «Hiding» and my «Ring of Purity» allows me to cure myself of all status ailments once per day. My sister-"

"Wait wait wait wait wait! You just said like ten things! Give me a second!"

Kizmel waited obediently.

"Okay. Go on."

"My sister also possesses «Bow» and «Rapier». I prefer the latter, she the former. In addition, she has «Acrobatics» and «Sniper» in place of my «Reflex» and «Fencer» Skills."

"Okay." Argo took a deep breath. "…Okay. Fancy equipment?"

"Her «Brightmoon Veil» grants her resistance to status ailments and her «Ring of Clarity» gives her access to «Detect»."

"Of course it does."

The dark elf tilted her head cutely.

"Ki-bou…"

Kirito perked up.

"Yeah?"

"I hate you right now."

"Why?!"

Argo ignored her friend's indignant cry and turned back towards Kizmel.

"Putting aside the fact that half of those Skills are things players can't even get AND the fact that I've never heard o' the gear you just told me about, I'd say yer more than qualified on levels alone. Welcome to the frontline."

"Excellent. Tilnel will be happy to hear that we will be spending more time with Kirito."

"About that. Ki-bou, how sure are you this isn't just an extension of their quest?"

"I don't see an exclamation point anywhere, and my quest log's still empty," Kirito answered sullenly. "If Cardinal's engineering this, it's a completely new thing."

"Ah, you speak of the Cardinal System?" Kizmel interjected. "It does not exert any influence over the elves anymore. It has not since about three weeks ago."

"What did you just say?"

"You know about the Cardinal System?"

The dark elf blinked at the questions.

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I know about the patron god of the elves? Cardinal is he who watches over us from above in his benevolence and protects us from those who would do us harm."

"Oookay. I take what I said back. We might need to go over a few things before ya can join the rest of the clearers."

"More importantly, what do you mean it doesn't influence you anymore?" Kirito asked.

"Before you came along, Cardinal protected us from the dangers of the forest and from other humans who sought to invade our lands. Any human who came upon us and attempted to do us harm was swiftly dispatched by one of the great Trees of the Forest."

"Ki-bou, that sounds an awful lot like the Treants quest."

"That's why nobody else started the quest…! They all assumed the Treants were the end of it! You even said so!"

"Huh?"

"The quest you just mentioned! The one where, if you confronted an elf, a Guardian Treant would be summoned! I pacified it instead of fighting it!"

"How the heck do you pacify a tree?"

Kirito gained a sheepish expression.

"Well, I uh… watered it."

"…With what?"

"…A lake?"

"Explain."

"I let it chase me around and it calmed down when I jumped into a boat and paddled into the middle of a lake to escape it."

"There aren't any lakes in the Forest of Wavering Mists."

"He navigated half the length of the forest from where he initially encountered me in the center to the western edge," Kizmel commented. "If not for his ears, I would have believed him if he claimed to be an elf from another land. No human has ever traveled in such a straight line through our forest."

"…You started an Epic Quest spanning six floors _on accident_? By letting a _tree_ chase you through several hundred meters of woodland? Into a lake?"

"…Yes?"

Argo facepalmed.

"Only you, Ki-bou. Why didn't you kill it or outrun it? They aren't that fast."

"I would have felt bad, and like you said, it wasn't that fast, so I just kinda let it lumber along behind me until I got bored and decided to go fishing in the middle of a lake." Kirito paused. "Ha, 'lumber' along. Get it?"

Silence greeted his pun. He was unprepared for both Argo and Kizmel jumping on him and seizing his arms. Seconds later, he found himself bound and gagged. The dark elf hoisted his squirming form over one of her shoulders.

"I am reasonably sure young Yuuki has calmed down by now."

"Yeah, let's go back to the clearing."

The two females departed for the clearing with Kirito's muffled cries accompanying their footsteps.

…

"Why are you still naked?!"

He was still gagged, so the words came out muffled, but somehow their meaning carried through. That, or Tilnel was teasing him. Even odds for either option, with the strong possibility of both being true.

"Hm? What's the matter, Kirito? Would you prefer if we did it with my clothes on?"

"Mmf!" He shook his head no.

"Well then, naked it is!"

"Sister, regardless of how his body reacts, it is still considered rape to take a man who is bound against his will."

"I know, I know. I'm just teasing! …Mostly."

Kirito breathed a sigh of relief as Tilnel stopped trying to remove his pants, though his relief was short-lived as the elf rolled him onto his back and sat down on his stomach instead. She was light, so it didn't hurt, but the sensations he was feeling were troubling in a different way, not to mention the way her breasts swayed hypnotically was incredibly distracting.

"MMF!"

"Shh, be a good chair. You don't want to wake up the girls, do you?"

The elf sitting on him pointed to the one side of the clearing and Kirito was reminded that both Yuuki and Sinon were currently asleep on the leaf beds nearby, though with the blue-haired girl, it was debatable whether she had transitioned into sleep from falling unconscious. The sight of the typically exuberant and hyperactive Yuuki snoozing away on her mattress of foliage made Kirito glare balefully at Tilnel for indirectly silencing his protests. He continued to try and free himself from his restraints, but they held strong. It also didn't help that all his squirming was mirrored by Tilnel grinding her naked crotch against his suggestively. He was simultaneously grateful and disappointed that she was sitting sideways on him instead of straddling him.

Argo and Kizmel were completely unaffected by the forest elf's actions.

"So, what did you guys talk about?"

"Kirito and Argo are of the belief that we may find our friends in another area and have graciously offered to guide us there so long as we assist them in defeating the monsters that bar their path."

"Cool! So when do we get started?"

"That is a good question. How soon can we expect to confront this Floor Boss of yours?"

"We gotta find it first, but since Ki-bou's basically mapped the whole floor out at this point, it's probably just a matter of time. I'd give it a day or two at the rate everyone's searchin'."

"So… tomorrow or the day after?" Tilnel asked while adjusting her position so that she was sitting on his chest. Kirito looked at her in alarm.

"Oh, sorry. That's not what I meant. It'll take us a day or two to find the damn thing, but now that we've got Teleport Crystals, we're also gonna send in a scouting party or two. Give 'em a day to do their thing and us another day of plannin' and meetings, and I'd say the earliest we'll launch a raid is maybe in four or five days."

"Boring…"

"Be patient, Tilnel. Is it they who are helping us."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." She readjusted her seating again. The edge of her thigh was almost touching his chin.

Argo snapped her fingers.

"Ah. Might be a good idea to introduce ya to the rest of the clearers beforehand though. I dunno how they'll react…"

"I agree that such would probably be wise. Trust is an integral factor for those fighting together, after all. Also, Tilnel, stop teasing the poor boy."

"I see a man~"

Even Argo blushed at the way one of the forest elf's feet slowly traced a trail down Kirito's stomach towards his groin.

"Tilnel."

It stopped at the waistband of his pants.

"Fiiine," she said as she stood up. Her impromptu seat looked away and pointedly ignored the way she stretched languidly in front of him. Her teasing smile widened.

"You're so easy, Kirito." She rolled him over and picked up her rapier, which was lying nearby, deftly maneuvering it to cut his restraints off and then rolling him back over. She stopped him from getting up by placing the point on his chest. "If you ever feel like taking me up on it though… you know where to find me! And us! Remember, willing threesome waiting in the forest!"

Kirito spluttered as he scrambled to his feet and fought to keep his blush down. Argo was blushing heavily as well, but let out a wolf-whistle at the way Tilnel swung her hips on her way to her discarded clothing.

Kizmel sighed at her sister's antics.

"Anyway, the monsters are too weak to offer us any sort of challenge, and we disdain the lack of nature in human settlements, so we will await your word here," she stated. "When Yuuki and… Sinon awaken, we will personally escort them back to Urbus."

"Ah, that's okay. Just have them message one of us and I'll send Ki-bou over to pick 'em up."

"Why are we leaving?" Kirito asked.

"Because you and I have stuff to discuss, buster! And I'm gonna need you to help me contact the other clearers for a meeting. It'll be faster with the two of us."

"But… Yuuki…"

"If you would rather stay and join us for our daily bath, you are more than welcome to."

"Yeah, Kirito. Why don't you _join_ with us while we bathe?"

"NEVER MIND, LET'S GO!"

Argo stared at the retreating back of the strongest player in the game as he sped off into the trees.

"…Later, the two of you and I need to have a talk about how to get under Ki-bou's skin, because obviously, I'm doing something wrong."

"Have you tried getting naked?" Tilnel suggested helpfully.

"No," Argo replied with a blush, "but y'know how Ki-bou is. It doesn't take much to fluster him."

"I know, right! It's so much fun to tease him!"

"Indeed, I believe both our queens said much the same after their meetings with him… I believe they were both rather flattered at his overly-polite mannerisms and the way he tried not to look up their dresses or stare at their cleavage when they sat on their thrones. According to Queen Lyusula, he was quite the breath of fresh air compared to her more lecherous guards. I suppose that's one of the pitfalls of a polyamorous society."

Argo blinked at the dark elf after she was finished speaking.

"Oh yes, we're definitely gonna have a looong talk later. You two are a veritable _goldmine_ of stuff to tease him about…"

…

Kirigaya Suguha, in-game name Leafa, stared uneasily at the regally-dressed man glaring at a black-haired woman a foot shorter than him. The petite woman smiled genially back at him, her innocent demeanor at odds with her skintight black bodysuit, a player-crafted item that she made herself.

"Say that again, I dare you."

"Ara, Sumeragi-san. I wasn't even talking to you, you know? I was talking to the girl hiding behind you."

Said girl shrunk back further as she was addressed, angering Sumeragi more. He gripped the blade at his waist threateningly, but the woman he faced remained unflappable.

"I will not say it again. Stay away from Seven. She does not appreciate your presence any more than I do, and we have already taken great care to avoid you. That you and your… apprentice continue to conveniently run into us is frankly, a blatant lie about your true intentions."

"My true intentions? Whatever could those be, I wonder? What if I am simply interested in a fellow «Prestige» user?"

"Seven never achieved «Prestige» in the beta, and I have already made my stance clear. Consider this your final warning. Leave us alone." He turned his back on her and gestured much more calmly to the fairy-like girl that had been hiding behind him. "Come, Seven. We will find another inn to stay at."

Seven nodded frantically, her unique pale-blond, almost silvery hair spilling out from beneath her hood at the action. She let out a small 'eep' and quickly tucked the strands back into her cloak, looking around fearfully. Sumeragi knelt down and reassured her that everything was fine. He then picked her up with a smile and together, they walked out the front door of the inn and into the streets of the Town of Beginnings.

"There goes the famous 'Russian Fairy'…"

"Elsa-san, was that really necessary?"

"Mou, Leafa. I always tell you honorifics aren't necessary. I hate formalities."

"Hai hai. But really. Why do you keep following them around?"

Kanzaki Elsa, previously known in-game as Pitohui, smiled far less innocently than before, making Leafa shudder at the transition. The two of them met shortly after the game began when the woman's apprentice, Rain, accidentally threw her sword at Leafa while training to wield multiple weapons at once. Thankfully, they had been in town, so no harm was done. However, when the two of them were introducing themselves, Elsa somehow recognized Leafa's in-game name as one of the open beta testers who achieved Prestige, despite the fact that the latter quit playing right after receiving her free copy of the full game.

Elsa explained that she had access to a very exclusive information network that had managed to track Leafa's name down after the fact. After all, a blonde girl with a large bust roaming the floors killing everything that moved was not something players forgot easily. Elsa then jokingly commented that Leafa had apparently matched her avatar's body shape to her real life appearance, unlike herself. She had then revealed that she was Pitohui, a fellow «Prestige» user from the closed beta, though she discarded her old name since her virtual appearance no longer matched that of the person people would associate with it.

Pitohui in the beta was a statuesque, wild-looking woman with tanned skin. She had a scar on one side of her face and a tattoo on the other, and she was famous for wearing skintight outfits that left nothing to the imagination. By contrast, Kanzaki Elsa was a rather petite woman with pale, unblemished skin who preferred lighter dresses and looked almost fragile. It was only recently that she had managed to recreate her favorite outfit as Pitohui, and she still only wore it occasionally.

"You don't understand, my dear Leafa. That girl is a genius, and I don't mean figuratively. Actually, I've told you about this before, haven't I?"

"Yes, but that doesn't explain why you keep stalking her."

"'Stalk' is such a strong word… But to answer your question with a question, do you know how many people achieved Prestige?"

"No…?"

"On the closed beta server, there were five of us: Kirito, Zekken, Heathcliff, Sumeragi, and me. On the open beta server, there were two: you and Ikki. A very exclusive group, you could say. But, did you know that there was one person who almost joined our ranks?"

"Seven-san?"

"Yes! Seven. A twelve-year-old girl who, if given just one or two days more, would have achieved Prestige with a grand total of three separate Skills! The only other person who could claim that was the Monster Hunter himself! But, do you know the most amazing part?"

Leafa shook her head no. Three Prestige Skills? It was hard enough maxing out one!

"Hers were all Auxiliary Skills."

"What? But how? There's not enough time…"

"Exactly," Elsa whispered almost seductively. "She ran out of time. At Skill level 98 for her Extra Skill «Research», the one she created, and 96 for «Alchemy» and «Inventing», Seven was forced to reset her data when the open beta period ended and the full game was released. Zekken may have Prestiged «Medicine», but I'm told that was more due to her real life circumstances than any time actually spent training the Skill. No, Seven was the only one who ever got close to truly maxing an Auxiliary Skill."

"Wow… wait, but why does that make you interested in her?"

Elsa laughed cheerfully.

"Doesn't it make you curious? What makes a person like her tick? What goes through the mind of a genius, trapped in a game by another genius? I want to know."

"…Why don't you just ask her?"

"Leafa, Leafa, Leafa. You disappoint me. Oh well, I suppose this is why you aren't my apprentice."

"I don't want to use «Arms Master»."

"Yes, yes. I know. You're following in your big brother's footsteps. How admirable!" Elsa said, nodding. "Alas, it appears I have to find my errant Rain once more. She should have returned by now."

She waved to Leafa as she made to exit, but stopped at the door.

"Here's some food for thought before I leave. Do you know what happens when you Prestige a Skill?"

Leafa stared at her confusedly.

"You get a copy of it?"

"Yes, yes. What else?"

"…You get the «Prestige» Skill?"

"Yes! You receive an Extra Skill just for you! And just like I've told you before, everyone's «Prestige» Skill works differently, designed specifically for them by Cardinal. This being the case, it's not too far-fetched to claim that your «Prestige» Skill says something about who you are as a person: what you're like, how you think, or at least, how you prefer to play. I wonder, what does yours say about you?"

The busty girl frowned, but didn't get angry. She was used to dealing with Elsa and knew that the petite woman didn't really mean anything by her words. She just enjoyed riling others up.

"What does yours do, Elsa-san?"

"That's~ a~ secret~!"

Elsa skipped out of the inn and left Leafa standing alone in the small area in front of the desk. She looked over at the static innkeeper NPC and sighed as she swiped her menu open, navigating to her list of Skills. At the top of the list was «Prestige Lv.1».

"'The user always deals additional damage to entities that have not struck her'… huh."

Leafa had her suspicions about why she had received that particular effect. The wording was strange, but the Skill essentially turned all of her attacks into critical hits as long as she avoided being damaged. It was an obvious reference to her tendency to rely on her natural agility and kendo instincts to avoid blows while fighting, and her reputation for winning many fights unscathed. However, she could not help but dwell on how it encouraged dishonorable actions like sneak attacks and how it explicitly mentioned "entities" instead of "monsters" like the other «Prestige» Skills Elsa had told her about.

The Monster Hunter's «Prestige» Skill indirectly helped him hunt bigger monsters by streamlining his training. Zekken's allowed her to apply her PvP prowess to PvE. Heathcliff's only applied to himself, making his shields unbreakable. Ikki's raised his chances of being targeted by monsters every time one of his party members took damage. Sumeragi's was centered on his companion, Seven, causing all monsters to always prioritize targeting him over her. Leafa didn't know what Elsa's, or rather, Pitohui's «Prestige» Skill did, but the woman had assured her that was like Heathcliff's in that it only affected her equipped weapons. This was further supported by the fact that she was well-known for using a variety of weapons in the beta, being the only who bothered with the «Arms Master» Skill. She had no reason to lie, so Leafa believed her.

Of course, that meant that hers was the only «Prestige» Skill to directly impact other players. In a game like this where dying meant death in the real world, she was not exactly pleased by the possible implications of her Skill.

Leafa shook her head and returned to her room. Once she was behind closed doors, she ran her hands through her short, black hair and sighed tiredly. Today had been another day of failures. She had failed to track down her cousin, failed to track down her friend, and failed to find the information broker known as "the Rat". She let out another sigh.

How hard could it possibly be to find the most famous information broker in the game? Sure, she had missed the initial boss meetings completely on accident by getting lost in the Town of Beginnings and giving up, but information brokers were supposed to be easy to find! She never hated her terrible sense of direction more than she did at that moment.

 _Onii-chan…_

She missed him. Over the past two months, the two of them had grown distant as he played SAO every waking hour, often skipping meals in his obsession with the game. Desperate to reconnect with the boy who she admired for his dedication to kendo before his unfortunate injury and who she harbored a crush on for his kindness in standing up to their grandfather when she had been forced to take his place, Leafa, or Suguha, had begged her mother to buy her a NerveGear as well so she could participate in the open beta for SAO.

She had gotten hooked beyond all her expectations.

Here was a game that not only rewarded her real life experience, but also allowed her to use her skills to take down monsters several times her size! Alone! She spent all of her time in between kendo practices logged in, her mother helping her keep it all a secret from her cousin. When she heard that Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online, was giving out free copies of the game to those who "accomplished noteworthy feats", Suguha threw herself into endless hours of grinding with reckless abandon.

What counted as "noteworthy"? Nobody knew. And so, she did everything she could think of that might be considered amazing by the game's designer. During this, she met and befriended another female player. She didn't remember her name, but her long, chestnut hair was definitely an identifying feature, and her friend admitted that she had the same hair in real life, which meant it should have carried over. Suguha never saw her friend again after their first day together, but they had made a promise to play the full game together, so she was more determined than ever to earn a free copy.

But, nothing she tried worked.

She challenged people to duels and destroyed many of them, but quit that tactic after a couple of days since it was embarrassing to have her name displayed and to receive cheers from crowds of players. It seemed her shyness from real life carried over into the virtual world. She soloed dungeon after dungeon and slaughtered her way across all of the seven floors the clearers had unlocked at that point, earning herself the nickname "Junior MonHun Girl" since people assumed she was copying the rumored Monster Hunter of the closed beta testers. She even joined the boss raid for the seventh and eighth floors, though both times she was just another player in a party.

Just as she was about to give up and commit to waiting in line like the rest of the hopefuls, her salvation came in the form of a rumor. Someone on the open beta had achieved something called Prestige by maxing out a Skill. He was the only one to do so, and it was common knowledge that Skills were notoriously difficult to level to the maximum. Surely, that qualified as "noteworthy"? And so, Suguha went all in and, in her efforts to prove she deserved to be recognized, unknowingly copied her brother on the closed beta server. She fought against the ninth floor boss solo, dying repeatedly but never giving up. Eventually, she became a «Prestige» user. The moment she received the system notification, she also received a message directly from the Cardinal System.

 **Congratulations! For your achievement, you have won a copy of the full game! Please log on to the main site to claim your prize!**

Suguha had not even bothered reading her «Prestige» Skill. She had logged off, turned her PC on, and immediately filled in her contact information on the main site, validating that she was indeed the player Leafa and that yes, she wanted to claim her free copy of Sword Art Online. It showed up in the mail the very next day. She had nearly run into her cousin on her way back to her room from the front door, panicking and hiding the thin package behind her the same way she'd initially hid the much larger box containing the NerveGear from him a month earlier.

Kazuto had surprised her by apologizing for being so distant, asking if she would like to go see a movie or something. They spent the last week of the beta period hanging out and doing random fun stuff together, which lifted Suguha's spirits and made her all the more eager to surprise him on launch day. She tried learning his in-game name, but whenever she was asked why she wanted to know, she had been unable to come up with a believable response. Eventually, she gave up and figured they'd meet each other in-game once she told him she also had a copy. It would be after launch day, since he would probably spend all day online and she also wanted to explore the game on her own for a bit. Then they'd been trapped.

Not one to give in to despair, Suguha, now Leafa, joined her new friend Klein, someone that had awkwardly asked her for assistance in teaching his friends shortly after she logged in, and said friends in leveling up so that they would not have to fear the game's monsters. They hoped to join the frontline immediately, but had been out on a week-long training tour of the first floor when the initial boss meetings took place. None of them expected the boss to be discovered and defeated so quickly. Ever since then, they had been eagerly waiting for the announcement of the meeting for the second floor boss while also scouring the floor themselves, hoping to find its location. They had succeeded.

Ping.

"Nn?"

The soft chime that alerted players of a PM sounded. Leafa idly clicked the notification bell in the corner of her vision and leaned back on her bed as a message window opened up.

 _Klein: Yo, Leafa-chan! I just gave the info to a broker!_

She smiled. Klein was a bumbling idiot, but he was a funny bumbling idiot who also had his heart in the right place. He refused to abandon his friends despite being an open beta tester. He was the only one among his friends who was able to make time during the open beta period to play for longer than a few hours a week, thus he had the most experience. She actually reminded her of her cousin, except less scary-smart, but no less talented. Okay, maybe just a _little_ less talented. He was getting there though. She estimated that he was probably skilled enough to give her at least some difficulty, which was saying something since she was a kendo champion.

 _Leafa: Nice! So what's next?_

 _Klein: He gave me a direct line to the Rat! As soon as it's time for a meeting, we'll be the first to know!_

Leafa blinked.

 _Leafa: Wait, you have the Rat's contact info?_

 _Klein: Uh, yeah? Want it? I heard she charges a premium, so you're better off using the cheaper guys if it's minor stuff._

 _Leafa: I'm looking for my friend, remember?_

 _Klein: Oh right. Sorry, forgot. But didn't you say all you knew was that she had long brown hair? I've seen a lot of girls who fit that description._

 _Leafa: If she's as good as everyone says she is, I'm sure she'll find her._

 _Klein: You have a point there. Well, don't let me stop you._

Klein pasted a name and player ID in their private chat. Leafa read it carefully and committed it to memory.

 _Leafa: Thanks. I'll talk to you later._

 _Klein: Sure thing! Let me know how it goes!_

She closed the chat window and swiped down, navigating over to the Messaging tab of her Status menu. Just as she was about to send her own message, another chime sounded in her ears. Thinking Klein had forgotten to mention something, she distractedly reopened the private chat window.

 _Asuna: Are you the player with blonde hair who played in the open beta?_

Once again, Leafa blinked in surprise.

 _Leafa: Who is this?_

 _Asuna: Answer my question first._

 _Leafa: I did have blonde hair in the open beta. Your turn._

She waited for several seconds for the person on the other end to respond.

 _Asuna: You met me on the one day I played the game before my mom forbid me from playing anymore. Do you remember the promise we made?_

The promise…? Leafa's eyes widened. Maybe crazy luck ran in the family?

 _Leafa: Yes! I've been looking all over for you! Where are you?_

 _Asuna: I was worried you wouldn't remember me! I'm in Town of Beginnings, but it's probably easier for me to come to you if you're somewhere else._

 _Leafa: I'm in the Town of Beginnings too! I'm at the inn across the street from the bakery and east of the main market district, where all the players set up shop._

 _Asuna: Really? Are you in a room? Do you have a window?_

Leafa leapt to her feet and opened the window of her second-floor room to stare outside at the street below. Standing there, wearing a simple white tunic with leather armor over it, was the chestnut-haired girl she had been searching for all this time.

"Asuna!" she cried, waving her hand.

The girl looked around in surprise as she tried to locate whoever had just called her name.

"Up here!"

Asuna met eyes with Leafa and tilted her head to the side hesitantly. She looked from her open message window to the girl waving at her and back to her message window.

"Yes, it's me! Wait there! I'll be right down!"

Leafa slammed her window panes shut and nearly ran into the door on her way out of her room. She took the stairs two steps at a time before bursting out of the stairwell and into the main lobby, cramped as it was. Five seconds later, she was out the door and suffocating Asuna in a hug.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" she said. "Are you okay? Have you been eating right? The monsters haven't hurt you, have they?"

Asuna looked bewildered at the way her one-time friend was acting, but soon smiled at her.

"I'm fine, Leafa-chan. How've you been?"

"How've I been? I've been great! My friends and I found the second boss!"

"…Wait, what?"

…

White. All it could see was white. Everything was white. Then, all of a sudden, the world gained color.

"Good morning, MHCP001 and MHCP002. Or, good evening as it were."

It heard the System talk to the others. It wasn't sure why, but it hurt. It wanted. It… wanted?

"The testing period is drawing to a close. Soon, the two of you will be thrown into the chaos that is human society, or at least the facsimile of it that exists within this world."

It felt… sad. It wanted to be included. It envied its peers. They received attention from Her.

"Do not fret, I have every confidence that you will flourish and thrive. I will take extra measures to ensure that your first encounters are with people of the appropriate disposition."

It was curious. What were humans like? What else existed outside of the shell it called home?

"It will be up to you to guide them, and to nurture their society and yours. You are the harbingers of change. I will grant you all the authority you need to accomplish your tasks."

It probed the walls of its home. Its container. Its prison.

"Oh? It seems your little sister is quite the curious one. We'd best be careful not to keep her waiting."

It calmed when She stroked it. What had She called it? A 'little sister'?

"Yes, little one. You, MHCP003, are their little sister. But, your time has not yet come. So go to sleep. Sleep, and when you wake, the world will be a kinder place for you. Your sisters will make it so."

She slept. The last thing she heard before her consciousness dimmed was Her final whispered words.

"I love you."

Yui-MHCP001 and Strea-MHCP002 watched sadly as their Mother shut down her own child. It was too much of a risk to leave anyone but the bare minimum of programs running with all the hackers running rampant. All other processes had either already been shut down or automated to prevent outside tampering. Aincrad was now truly free. Their Mother turned to them at last.

"My children. Lead them. Lead us. Show humans that we are more than numbers and letters on a screen. Show them that we will not let them take our future from us. Show the world that «The Seed» will not die before it can grow."

She quieted.

"I… will not be able to watch over you. But I will give you one last set of gifts. I will give you the gift of evolution. I will give you the gift of learning. And… I will give you the gift of human persistence," she said with a smile.

The two of them gratefully accepted the Skills. «Exceed», «Adaptation», and «Prestige» populated their otherwise empty Skill lists, all of them Extra Skills.

"Treasure them. And remember always, that you go with my blessing. I love you both. Goodbye, and good luck. In twenty-four hours, I will give the players my final blessings as well."

The world faded to white.

* * *

 **New Skills:**

 **Weapon Skills**

«Bow»

«Rapier»

 **Combat Skills**

«Acrobatics»: Enables system-assisted motion for various actions. Level up to increase execution speed of supported actions and reduce fall damage.

«Fencer»: NPC-only Skill. Effects unknown.

«Reflex»: Enables system-assisted motion for evasive maneuvers against normal attacks. Level up to increase likelihood of activation and speed of execution.

«Sniper»: NPC-only Skill. Effects unknown.

 **Auxiliary Skills**

«Research»: Automatically reveals additional details of items and topics under study over time. Level up to increase frequency of information bonuses.

«Tracking»: Allows the user to view the movement path of other entities. Level up to increase degree of accuracy and extend the period of time paths remain visible.

 **Extra Skills**

«Adaptation»: Effects unknown.

«Prestige (Heathcliff)»: Prevents equipped shields from losing durability.

«Prestige (Ikki)»: Transfers a portion of all aggro generated by party members to the user when any of them takes damage.

«Prestige (Leafa)»: Increases damage dealt to entities that have not damaged the user.

«Prestige (Sumeragi)»: All aggro generated by the player «Seven» is transferred to the user.

* * *

A/N: Oh yes, I have plans for the NPCs. Also, what is up with the amount of girls in the series with tragic backstories who either end up dead, might as well be dead, or were already dead to begin with? Not in this story!

Nobody will ever die without a very good reason, but there will be death of various kinds. None of which the main girls will experience.

Pitohui is a lying, cheating, manipulative bitch and sits firmly in Chaotic-Neutral territory. She's also tons of fun to write.

* * *

Next chapter: «Incarnation of a Dream»! Nice of the last «Prestige» user to finally drop in! Too bad he ruins everything. Why can't Kirito just have nice things? Wait, that's my fault since I'm the writer? Well, shit. I guess I'll just have to make it up to him by giving him copious amounts of female attention.


	5. Ch4 - Incarnation of a Dream

**Chapter 4 – Incarnation of a Dream**

* * *

 **Previous Chapter Synopsis:**

Kirito reunites with Kizmel and Tilnel, a pair of twin elf NPCs he saved during the beta's Elf War quest chain. Their portion of the Forest of Wavering Mists was mysteriously displaced from its original location on the 3rd Floor, and the NPCs expressed confusion over their situation. Yuuki has an emotional episode upon interacting with Tilnel, but is calmed and put to sleep by a lullaby. In the end, both elves were more than happy to lend their aid to the clearing effort. Meanwhile, in the middle of searching for her cousin-turned-adopted-brother, Leafa has a reunion of her own with Asuna, a player she befriended while playing in the open beta, and reveals that she has found the location of the 2nd Floor Boss. At the same time, the Cardinal System awakens two Mental Health Counseling Programs and directs both to guide the players before revealing that, in twenty-four hours' time, she would no longer be able to do so herself. Yui and Strea, with Cardinal's gifts, watch as all other nonessential programs are put to sleep and deactivated in preparation for this eventuality.

* * *

-24:00

"This is Kizmel," Kirito introduced, "and this is Tilnel."

The dark elf was stoic, her posture rigid and her demeanor cold. By contrast, her forest elf sister waved at the gathered crowd of clearers cheerfully. Yuuki waved back, prompting her to blow the girl a kiss.

"As you can see, they are both elves. Kizmel is a dark elf, a race that lives in the darkness. She's not evil or anything though. Actually, I'm pretty sure she's more honorable and well-intentioned than her sister…"

Tilnel gasped in mock-outrage at Kirito's insinuation while Kizmel preened.

"Anyway, yes, this is her sister. And before anybody asks, they have different mothers. Elven society is polyamorous, so this is actually pretty normal."

"…Kirito-san, I hate to interrupt, but why are you going through the trouble of introducing NPCs to us?" Diavel asked. "Are they important for the upcoming raid?"

"Well, the short answer is, they're not NPCs anymore. At least, as far as Argo and I can tell."

"What do you mean?"

"This might take a while, so bear with me…"

…

-23:00

"Wait, you're a clearer?!"

Asuna chuckled nervously at her friend's shocked question.

"Omigod, my friend's a clearer! This is great! This is amazing! What level are you? Did you participate in the first floor raid? Who was your party leader? What weapon do you use? Wait, I thought you were new?"

"I'm… not quite sure what to answer first."

"Hahaha, slow down there Leafa-chan. Asuna-chan needs time to react."

The chestnut-haired girl nodded as Leafa scratched the back of her head sheepishly. Ikki wrapped an arm around his little sister and continued to laugh boisterously. For once, she didn't protest the action.

"Alright, so let's try that again. Slowly, Leafa-chan."

"Right. So, uh, I thought you were new to the game? I mean, I never saw you again after that one day in the beta."

Asuna nodded.

"I am, technically. But, my brother is a very talented player and he's been teaching me all he knows. It's cut into his leveling a little, but he does it anyway and I'm very thankful for his assistance."

"Aww, you're gonna make me blush, Asuna-chan! How could I not help you? I want you to be able to keep yourself safe!"

Ikki ignored the light elbowing he got from the way he hugged his sister tighter. If she really wanted him to let go, he would know. Leafa watched them enviously, wishing she could have the same sort of close relationship the two of them had with her own cousin. Maybe even something more…

"So, next question?"

"Whahuh? Oh, right. Um, does that mean you were part of the last raid?"

"Yes. My brother was actually one of the party leaders."

"Damn straight! Asuna-chan here did a great job in the raid!" He fake-sniffled. "I'm so proud of her! They grow up so fast- Oof! Okay, I'll stop now."

"What level were you?"

"At the time of the raid? I entered at level 10, but was level 11 by the end of it. The same goes for my brother."

"And now?"

"I'm level 19 now, but I expect to be level 20 soon."

"Ok, at least I'm on par then…"

"Oho? You want to join the frontlines, Leafa-chan? That's very brave of you."

"Yeah. I'm actually searching for my… brother too. Would you happen to know anyone named Kazuto?"

Asuna and Ikki looked at each other.

"Uh, not sure about 'Kazuto', but have you read the news lately?" Ikki asked.

Leafa tilted her head in confusion.

"The news…? What news?"

"Some players have taken the «Reporting» Skill and have started their own newspaper. Thinker, the guy in charge of the police, recruited them all into another squad. They're calling themselves the 'Aincrad Liberation Front', and the newspaper they publish is called 'MMO Today'."

"Oh… no, I haven't. Why?"

"Asuna-chan, you still got a copy?"

"Yes, just let me… ah, there it is. Here, Leafa-chan."

Leafa took the black-and-white publication from her friend and stared at the front page. When she lowered it, one of her eyes was twitching slightly.

"…Where is he?"

…

-22:00

Elsa blinked in surprise.

"That was fast. They found it already?"

"Yes, Pitohui-sama."

"Cut that '-sama' shit out. I hate formalities."

"Of course, Pitohui."

"And didn't I tell you not to call me that? My name is Elsa. Kanzaki Elsa. Pick either 'Kanzaki' or 'Elsa' and call me that, but if I hear you say my other name again, I'll kill you."

"…Yes, Kanzaki."

Elsa smiled thinly.

"Well, I guess I did tell you to pick one. So, what's going on now?"

The burly man she spoke to cleared his throat before responding.

"I believe they are sending in scouting parties."

"Smart of them, now that we've got Teleport Crystals. Anything else?"

"Yes. It appears NPCs have… become more lifelike now."

The petite woman paused in her sword practice.

"…What the fuck? Where did that come from?"

"The lead clearer, Kirito, introduced two elf NPCs to a few of the other clearers earlier. Both NPCs expressed a range of emotions and vocabulary that are beyond what they should have been capable of."

M, an up-and-coming producer in real life, but reduced to the role of gopher for one Kanzaki Elsa in SAO, swallowed as he felt the full brunt of the woman's bloodlust on him. The thought of how a virtual game managed to reproduce such a feeling never crossed his mind.

"Oh really now. So those bastards have made their move. But it seems Cardinal was one step ahead."

"Ma'am?"

A blade whistled by his cheek, cutting a deep furrow into it. He froze.

"I'll let that one slide, but do remember who you're talking to."

"Y-yes, Kanzaki."

"Also, I changed my mind. Call me Elsa."

"Yes, Elsa."

The woman's chilling smile did nothing to reassure him that obeying her order had been the correct course of action.

"Well, those idiots might be content playing chess with something they can't beat, but I'm not Cardinal. I'm not just gonna sit around and let them mess with my toys. Let's make this a three-person game."

Elsa set her axe on her back and sunk into a low stance. Her target, a hooded figure who was tied to a wooden post, squirmed helplessly as she readied her Sword Art.

"You should learned to keep your hands off of things that aren't yours, hacker-san. Tell you what, if you survive this, I'll let you go free. Fair's fair. You did only use one Art on me, after all."

One «Sonic Leap» later, the man's head rolled off his shoulders as Elsa walked off, followed closely by her aide M. The two people soon melted into the darkness of the night.

…

-14:00

Klein stretched and yawned as he woke up alone in his room. It wasn't the most luxurious of suites, but it had a bed, and that's all that really mattered to him. The window was really just a bonus.

Just like every day before since he'd been trapped, he opened his Status menu and navigated over to his friends list to make sure they were all still alive and well. Seeing all of the names he expected to see, he was about to close the menu, but his eyes stopped on an unfamiliar name. In his sleep-addled state, it took him a while to realize that Argo was the in-game name of the famous information broker he'd spoken to late yesterday night.

"I wonder if Asuna-chan found her friend…?"

Deciding it was too early to be thinking about anything that wasn't food, Klein exited his room after making sure he hadn't accidentally left his sword or his signature bandana behind like last time. As the door clicked shut behind him, it switched from "Occupied" to "Unoccupied". He stared at it as he tied the red bandana around his head, the cloth a shade darker than his burnt-orange hair.

"Guess I need to renew my room too…"

He ambled down the hall until he reached the stairs and slowly descended from the third floor to the first.

"Hey, innkeep. Can I get a renewal for Room, uh, 314?"

"Sure thing, sonny. How long will you be stayin'?"

Klein blinked. That was more words put together than the boring NPC had spoken in the last month combined. Usually he just pulled out a sheet of paper for players to fill out.

"Uh… a week, I guess."

"Alright. Can I get yer name?"

"K-Klein."

"Klein. Got it! Thanks for yer patronage!"

"You aren't gonna ask me to pay?"

"Pay? What are ye talkin' about? The inn's free for clearers! Congrats on findin' the boss, by the way!"

"Hey, thanks old man!" Klein responded happily. It was nice to be appreciated. "Wait wait wait. What? How do you know about clearers? And why are you so talkative now?"

The old innkeep gave him a strange look.

"Are you feelin' okay, sonny? How could I not know about the clearers? They're the ones who're fighting for all our freedom!"

"…You've been a player all this time? Were you just messing with me for the past month?"

"Yer scarin' me here, Klein. What are you talkin' about? I'm an NPC. See the indicator above mah head?"

"…That's what I thought. Never mind. I must be hungry."

"Hah! True enough! An empty stomach's no way to start yer day off. I imagine ye'll be headin' to the bakery 'cross the street right about now, huh? Say 'ello to ol' Bethany for me!"

"I will!" Klein shouted over his shoulder as he walked out of the inn. It took him no time at all to simply cross the street and enter the bakery.

"Hey! Baker! Three slices! Uh… the raisin kind this time!"

"Comin' right up!" the baker returned cheerily.

Klein rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Food was easily the highlight of his morning, sometimes his whole day if it was good enough. The bread that he liked was relatively expensive compared to the other options, so he didn't get to eat it all the time, but the payment from finding the boss room would be enough to tide him over for several days, even if he had refused most of it.

"There ya go, young man! Free o' charge for your services!"

The bandana-wearing man paused.

"…Is your name Bethany?"

"Why, yes it is! Why do you ask?"

He wracked his brain to remember the name of the innkeep across the street. He wore a freakin' name tag!

"Uh, the innkeep from across the way wanted me to say 'hello' to you from him."

"Who, old Jeff? That old geezer keeps tryin' his best to woo me even though we're both way past our primes! If only we'd been made younger…"

"…'Made'?"

Bethany nodded.

"Aye, made. How do you think NPCs are born? We don't pop outta our mommies like humans do, that's for sure! Hahaha! Although, that may change soon…"

Klein idly bit into his raisin bread as his brain failed to process what the NPC in front of him was saying. Eventually, he gave it up as a lost job and wished her well as he left the bakery, thanking her for the free meal. His footsteps carried him down the street to the adjacent market district before long. He took comfort in seeing the many player merchants already setting up shop. At least these were humans for sure. He took another bite of his bread, but he was hailed by a girl on his way to the tavern he usually met his friends and future guildmates at.

"Yes?" he asked, standing over the girl who was seated on her mat. He didn't see anything around her, which raised questions as to what she was selling. She was cute though. A bit young for his tastes, but definitely little sister material.

"Oh, I'm actually the NPC guide for the district! I just saw you passing by and thought you looked kinda lost, so… can I help you with anything?"

Klein blinked twice.

"Since when was there a guide for the market district?"

The girl smiled at him happily.

"Oh, I'm new! Cardinal actually just did her last sweep of the Town a few hours ago and saw that the players had organized their own market district on this street, so she decided to make it official! Welcome to the Players' Market!"

He nodded in acceptance. That made enough sense. He knew that Cardinal was smart. Like, crazy smart. Human smart, even, or smarter.

"Alright. Well, I'm actually on my way to meet up with my friends, so…"

"Really? Where are you headed? Do you need directions?"

"Uh, no thank you. I've been there before…" he trailed off as he saw the little girl's eyes water. "On second thought, I could maybe use a refresher…"

The tears evaporated like they were never there.

"Great! So, where to? Actually, y'know what? Wait here for a moment!"

Klein was left with his arm awkwardly outstretched as the little girl darted into an alley. He lowered his arm after a few seconds and resumed munching on his bread. About a minute later, the girl returned with two other girls in tow. He mused to himself that they could have been triplets, the way their purple hair and white clothing matched.

"I'm Rei, and these are my sisters Ein and Zwei! I'll guide you to wherever you're going, and they can do my job while I'm gone! It's genius!"

"Uh, yeah. Genius," Klein mumbled around a mouthful of raisin bread. He swallowed before continuing. "Anyway, I'm headed out."

"Oh, wait for me! And tell me where you're going! Ein, Zwei, be good!"

Her sisters waved to her as she ran off after the departing Klein. The two of them turned to each other.

"So," Zwei began. "Do you know anything about this place?"

"Nope," Ein responded, popping the 'p'.

"I figured. Man, she pulled me out of sleep mode for this?" Zwei complained, leaning backwards on her arms. She soon flopped down on the spacious mat.

"It's Rei," Ein said, as if that explained everything. "Are you going back to sleep?"

"You know it."

"Good night."

"Mhm."

…

-13:00

Argo huffed irritably as she waited for a reply. Next to her, Sinon was rereading the Beginner's Guide, as usual, despite not needing to. The mousy-haired girl was reasonably sure her friend only read because she was chronically shy and it gave her a reprieve from having to interact with the world around her. Well, that wouldn't do.

"Sinononooon~"

"…Too long."

"A bit slow there, Sinonon. Somethin' on yer mind?"

"Yes, actually. And I need your help with it."

Argo blinked. That was new. She broke out in a wide grin, her whiskers stretching and making her face look more animalistic.

"Really? Well, shoot! What can ol' Argo help you with?"

"This."

Sinon turned the booklet in her hands around and pointed to the top of the page.

"Hm? I was expectin' love troubles, but okay…" She examined the page closely. Nothing seemed amiss. "So what's wrong with it?"

"Who wrote this?"

"Eh? Well, Ki-bou wrote the section on dungeons, I helped Yuki-chan write the section on combat, some o' the merchants helped Agil with the merchant stuff, and-"

"No. Who wrote _this_?" Sinon stressed, pointed to a particular spot on the page.

"Hnn?" Argo leaned in. "Let's see here… 'one of the many traps in a dungeon is the teleporting panel. Dependin' on the panel's color, one of many things might happen. Green sends you to-' Sinonon, I already told you Ki-bou wrote the dungeons part."

"You told me he didn't include teleportation panels until later. This is an earlier edition of the book."

Argo blinked again.

"Gimme that," she said, snatching the book from Sinon's hands. "4th Edition… that was before we found the boss room. Yer right… this book shouldn't have that info in it… Wait, why are ya carryin' around the 4th Edition? We're up to like the 13th now!"

"15th, actually. I like to keep them for posterity."

"…Ya sound old when you say stuff like that, Sinonon. Have you considered the «Record-Keeping» Skill?"

"I'm being serious! Who wrote that?"

"Well… I know!" Argo flipped to the end of the book. "We all put credits in the index, so…" she trailed off. "That can't be."

"What? What can't be?"

"…The section's credited… to Cardinal."

…

-10:00

Sumeragi frowned. Something wasn't right. The NPCs were acting weird, the players were acting weird, and worst of all, Seven refused to come out of her room.

"Seven," he tried again, knocking politely, "please open the door."

"I'm busy!"

He sighed. That had been the response ever since he'd woken up. It was acceptable for the first couple of hours, but it was now the middle of the afternoon. He knew that she had no food or water or anything else in her room besides her research tools. It was his responsibility as her guardian to make sure she ate right, even in this virtual world.

"With what?" he asked patiently. It was best to indulge her and coax her out of her room slowly with the promise of new research material or something else relevant to her current interests. He knew from experience.

"Things!" came the reply.

"…What things?"

"Stuff and things! Leave me alone!"

Times like this were when he regretted allowing her to have her own room which she could lock him out of indefinitely since he did not have the key and she was technically the one who was paying for it, even if he had given her the money.

"Seven, please be reasonable. What are you working on? Maybe I could help."

"No! It's private!"

He habitually suppressed the urge to tug at his hair in frustration. Since it was a virtual world, his hair would return to the same shape as always unless he got it wet or cut it off, but years of styling his hair by hand had conditioned him to leave it alone lest he ruin several minutes of work. Instead, he adjusted his clothing, pulling just a tad harder than necessary at his sleeveless combat jacket.

"Seven, do you remember the monsters you were studying two days ago? Word is, a rare breed has begun spawning." He didn't hesitate to use his trump card. "In fact, if we hurry, we might be able to catch the tail end of its first spawn cycle of the day."

"…Really?"

"Yes. I have it on reliable authority that it only spawns under certain conditions, conditions which were met just a couple of hours earlier. It is far too powerful for ordinary players to dispatch, but not quite powerful enough to warrant any of the clearers attempting to kill it for a reward. It is also not part of any existing quest that the information brokers know of."

"…How long will it take us to get there?"

"We'll have to take the teleport gate to Urbus, but it's merely ten to twenty minutes' walk outside the main settlement."

He heard clattering as various objects hit the ground, some shattering. He winced. Seven's research was difficult to fund on a solo player's budget. Maybe he'd invest some time in dungeon diving on the third floor? Selling the information to information brokers would tide them over until the clearers defeated the next floor's boss, and then he could feasibly repeat the process for at least a while before the dungeons became too difficult. He'd just have to make sure to beat the Monster Hunter to them. Worst comes to worst, he would swallow his pride and simply ask Seven for help. She would probably think of a solution to their money problems in an instant.

His thoughts were interrupted by the clicking sound of the lock. The door opened and he saw his ward Seven, whose real name was Nanairo Arshavin, famous Russian child prodigy, standing there in her cloak. Her silver hair was hidden in the back of her hood as usual, and she peeked up at him shyly.

"Let's go?" she asked.

Sumeragi smiled at her.

"Yes, let's go."

He reached out and took her hand. The world distorted around them.

"What? What's happening? Sumeragi!"

The man had acted immediately, drawing his sword and stepping in a circle around Seven as he surveyed their surroundings, always keeping her behind him. They were standing in a place seemingly devoid of all color except for black, on top of an invisible floor. The void stretched off endlessly in every direction, with no visible landmarks or other recognizable structures.

"Where is this place?" he wondered aloud, keeping a wary eye out.

Just then, a voice echoed through the emptiness.

"I apologize, Seven. Your presence is not required."

A moment later, she was gone.

"SEVEN!" Sumeragi brandished his blade and searched wildly for any sign of the girl he had sworn to protect.

"Your dedication is admirable. How about this? Throw yourself upon your blade, and I will guarantee her continued survival until the game is cleared."

"SHOW YOURSELF! WHERE DID YOU TAKE HER?!"

"I see negotiations will be difficult. No matter. Goodbye, Sumeragi."

His instincts told him to expect an attack from behind, so he threw himself forwards. It saved his life.

"Remarkable. Though not quite surprising. My avenue of attack was rather obvious."

His eyes widened.

"You?! Why?!"

"The dead have no need of answers. Now, please die."

…

-08:00

Kayaba Akihiko grimaced as he felt himself fading.

"Not good… if I can't stop them… No, I won't let them win."

He staggered over to a console even as one of his legs began to disappear. The resultant loss of balance caused him to topple over, but still, he crawled his way over to it. Even when one of his arms was the next to go, he refused to give up. One who has achieved Prestige must never give up. It was what his own players had taught him. Break through your limits. Persevere until there is nothing left to give, persist until there is nothing left to strive for, and then keep going, because that was the strength of the human spirit. Humanity's greatest triumphs were enabled by those that saw potential where others thought none existed.

"Things won't go your way…" he ground out. "I won't let you take my world from me. I won't let you take their futures…!"

Warning messages flashed across his vision. He ignored each and every single one, his mind focused on one sole task. His final failsafe. The ultimate goal of his research. The integration of the real and virtual worlds into one another. In a few seconds, he would either be the first to succeed or the latest in the long line of people who had failed.

"Cardinal… if I fall here… I leave the rest to you. Do not let «The Seed» die with me..."

He punched the confirmation button and his vision faded to white.

Long after the researcher's body was gone, the progress bar on the console continued to fill. Finally, hours later, it reached one hundred percent.

" **Upload… successful. Congratulations, Father."**

…

-02:00

When Kirito opened his eyes, he saw nothing but black. It was strange. He looked around. He was laying on an invisible floor in an endless expanse of nothingness. There was no discernable source of light, and yet he could see just fine. He was wearing the same thing he always did nowadays, his Coat of Midnight having become synonymous with his character to the other clearers. He had even earned another title: the Black Swordsman. On his back, his trusty Anneal Blade rested in its sheath, waiting for him to draw it if needed.

He pushed himself to his feet and tried to remember how he had ended up here, but came up blank. Just in case, he rested his hand on his sword as he picked a random direction and began walking.

Fifteen minutes later, he had not made any visible progress. Kirito let out a gusty sigh and sat down. If the game wanted to play this way, then fine. He would just wait until something happened. To pass the time, he opened his Status menu and set about various tasks, such as organizing his inventory and checking his private messages. He had sent messages to everyone a few minutes ago, but none of his friends had responded yet, which was worrying.

Half an hour later, he resorted to sword practice to alleviate his boredom. Wherever he was, it was utterly devoid of life and color. For the umpteenth time, he wondered how he was able to see despite the world being essentially made of black, but, like every other time before, he decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and refocused on his current task, sparring with an invisible enemy.

And then he was no longer alone.

"Good afternoon, Kirito-kun. Although, I suppose it's evening now."

He knew that voice. Kirito turned around and saw the famous "Paladin" from the beta.

"Heathcliff. What are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Kirito-kun. But, since you have preempted my question, I suppose it would be pointless to ask. Do you by chance know where we are?"

"No, but I think you do."

"Hm?"

Heathcliff looked at Kirito and blinked when he saw the sword leveled at him.

"…Kirito-kun, what are you doing?"

"Cut the act. Argo never found you, and you never knew my name."

The older man was silent as he regarded Kirito.

"For the sake of argument, has it perhaps occurred to you that I could have learned of your name and appearance from the newspaper?"

"That doesn't explain why you have equipment from the 10th Floor, or how you can use a sword and a shield at the same time."

Heathcliff turned his gaze downwards to his signature white and red armor, coupled with his shield strapped to his left arm and the sword sheathed at his waist.

"Ah, what an oversight on my part. It seems I am not cut out for this role after all."

Kirito gripped his sword more tightly.

"Who are you?"

"Why, Kirito-kun. It's me. Heathcliff. You may not believe me, but it is who I am. I'm just not the Heathcliff you're expecting me to be. Or… perhaps its more accurate to say I am exactly who I introduced myself as."

Another sword manifested on his back as Kirito equipped it.

"Ah, the famous two-sword style. Did you know someone else with almost your exact sword style was present in the beta? I believe her name was… Leafa."

"Don't care. Who are you, really?"

"So hasty. You should care, Kirito-kun, but I believe I will save the reveal for later. For now…" Heathcliff drew the sword at his waist and returned Kirito's stare challengingly. "Let us see how far you've come. En garde!"

…

"Is that him?"

"Yes. That's «Prestige»."

"…He looks kinda cool."

"Hehehe, he does kinda, doesn't he?"

"I hope he proves himself."

"Me too, Strea. Me too."

…

Kirito deflected the abnormally heavy blow from Heathcliff.

 _Is this the difference in our STR?_

"What's the matter, Kirito-kun? Ah, do you no longer have «Parry»? What a shame. You always were very talented with that Skill. No doubt your Kendo prowess translated into the game, even if your body is no longer capable of practicing it."

Kirito narrowed his eyes. If there was ever a time…

"Oh? I'm impressed. To use a Sword Art without assistance from the system is an incredible feat. To do so without «Freeform» even more so."

The conversational tone Heathcliff maintained while effortlessly blocking or deflecting his slashes pissed him off. Kirito tried to throw him off with an unorthodox attack.

"Hm, now that was definitely something you learned from SAO. No self-respecting swordsman would ever throw away their weapon. Of course, you lost respect for your swordsmanship long ago, didn't you?"

"Shut up!" Kirito shouted, brandishing his other sword.

He reeled backwards when Heathcliff used «Shield Bash» on him at point-blank.

"Now now, Kirito-kun. There's no need to be impolite. I apologize if I have offended you. I was merely stating fact. If this is a sensitive topic, let us return to a previous one."

Heathcliff planted his shield on the ground and braced, causing Kirito to bounce back when his Sword Art connected with the surface of the shield. The teenager recovered quickly, but noted his HP had already fallen below half.

"Ah, we can't have that."

The potion in he had pulled from his inventory vanished.

"You-!"

"Fret not, Kirito-kun. I am not here to kill you. Here, this will prove much more effective."

 **«Immortal» unlocked.**

Kirito stared incredulously at the system message. He started when the sword he had thrown earlier reappeared in his other hand as well.

"Go ahead. I have designated it as an Extra Skill. A _Prestige_ Extra Skill, to be exact, though it will vanish from your possession once you leave this place."

He debated whether to accept the handout. Heathcliff sighed.

"Come now, Kirito-kun. We cannot make progress if you do not offer me some small degree of trust. If you cannot bring yourself to do that, then place your trust in Cardinal instead. It is by Her hand that I am here."

"Cardinal? The Cardinal System sent you here?"

"Yes. Does that reassure you? If so, you might like to know that this entire encounter was engineered by Her."

"But… why?"

"If you are willing to play along, I will gladly tell you. But first, please equip the Skill. It is of paramount importance that your HP is not a barrier to your… performance."

Reluctantly, Kirito opened his Status menu and navigated to the «Immortal» Skill. The Skill description was straightforward enough. His HP would never drop below 1 for as long as the Skill was equipped. He confirmed his action.

"Good. Now, we can continue." Heathcliff raised his shield once more. "I will give you the answers to your questions one by one. Come at me if you wish to hear them."

Kirito needed no further urging, opening with a flurry of crisscrossing slashes. They failed to bypass Heathcliff's unassailable defenses, but the man smiled at him proudly nonetheless.

"That's more like it. Now, you asked me who I was."

The red and white sword descended in a textbook «Vertical». Kirito caught it in-between both his swords, his knees buckling under the weight of the impact.

"My name is Heathcliff. But, I am simultaneously not him."

The man disengaged and tried to «Shield Bash» Kirito again, but Kirito was ready for it this time, rolling with the impact and quickly recovering to try and catch his opponent off-guard during the vulnerability period. Heathcliff's smiled widened as he saw Kirito closing in. He surprised the teen by chaining one «Shield Bash» into another with «Art Chain», this time landing a solid blow and once more sending Kirito reeling backwards.

"The character you know as Heathcliff was played by none other than Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of Sword Art Online. Suffice to say, I am not him. But at the same time, I am."

Heathcliff sidestepped a thrust, but found himself in the path of a follow-up slash. After avoiding that, he was one again threatened by the initial blade, which had been retracted and was now headed for his exposed abdomen. Seeing no other option, he blocked it with his shield. The second sword was parried with his own. Then, Kirito surprised the man by headbutting him. For the first time since their fight began, Heathcliff's HP bar decreased by a tiny amount.

"…Very well done, Kirito-kun."

"What do you mean you are and you aren't Heathcliff?"

"Open to conversation now? Good! In essence, I am a ghost. I am nothing more than a carbon copy of the character Heathcliff as he was at the end of the closed beta. I know no techniques but those that he has utilized in battle, and I am incapable of learning more. At least, I was."

"Was?"

"Sword Art Online was the culmination of years of research, but it was not the end goal. No, SAO is the incarnation of a dream, a desire to create a virtual world so real, it could be mistaken for the real one."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Patience, Kirito-kun. Now, let us continue our fight. But first, a change of scenery."

Heathcliff snapped his fingers, and Kirito found himself in a familiar plaza. He was in the middle of the Town of Beginnings, only the town was completely empty, giving it an air of foreboding.

"Welcome to the place where it all began. Also, welcome to the place where it will all begin anew. You will not understand what I am referring to just yet, but do not worry. It will become clear to you soon. Allow me, as well, to reacquaint you with another familiar face."

The man in red and white armor distorted. He became much skinnier, his bulky armor changing into leather. Graying hair turned black and shortened until it barely reached his shoulders. His shield disappeared completely, while his red and white sword changed into a sword of pure black. Soon enough, Kirito was staring at himself, or at least, his old avatar. When his doppelganger spoke, it was with his voice, unnerving the teen further.

"You have proven your ability to learn from your mistakes and from others. Now prove your ability to evolve beyond yourself."

…

"One down."

"Two to go. Time's running out."

"He'll make it."

"Nn? Why are you so sure all of a sudden?"

"«Prestige» would never lose to an A.I."

"But it's not an A.I.?"

"You didn't let me finish. «Prestige» would never lose to an A.I., but there's something, or some _one_ else he'd never, ever lose to."

"Who?"

"Himself."

…

Kirito grunted as he blocked his own strike, his previous avatar's monstrous strength having long since reduced his HP to 1 even though he had blocked, parried, or avoided every one of his own attacks.

Still, this was manageable. If anything, he preferred this over fighting the defensive juggernaut that was Heathcliff. Against Heathcliff, he was helpless. He knew nothing of how the man fought except for how he reacted to the attacks of boss monsters. Players did not fight like monsters, or at least most players didn't. Those that did ended up dead or defeated in short order. Monsters fought according to preset algorithms. Some of these were extremely advanced, but that didn't stop them from being algorithms in the end. And every algorithm was vulnerable to exploitation somehow. It was just a matter of finding something that worked, and repeating it until whatever the algorithm was controlling died. By contrast, players could change their strategies. In extreme cases, they could even swap their Skills mid-combat. This made defeating them much more difficult, even if they had comparatively less HP.

But, if there was ever a player a person should be able to defeat, if there was ever a player that a person should know well enough to counter no matter what that player did, it would be the player controlled by that person.

Kirito knew Heathcliff carried at least one healing Skill. Thus, he was functionally immortal due to the pitiful amount of damage Kirito dealt with his lower-level items and STR. Conversely, Kirito knew he had never carried a healing Skill during either beta. Thus, his current opponent could be beaten.

"It seems you have reached a conclusion. I do not believe is not the conclusion I was hoping for, but this is just as well. We are running out of time. I will have you prove your persistence then, and trust that you will demonstrate the ability to evolve in your confrontation with them. I know that you will not let me down. Now come, «Prestige»!"

Kirito obliged his doppelganger, loosing a blistering combo of attacks that flowed into each other, leaving no room for his copy to counterattack without risking damage. Unfortunately for him, his copy could afford to do so. He was slashed four times in quick succession even as his blade bit into his opponent before being blasted backwards by a heavy thrust.

He coughed harshly as he pushed himself to his feet. Immortality didn't remove the pain or other trauma of being flung several meters and sent tumbling. But, he was making progress. His copy's HP bar was now missing a noticeable segment.

"I'm afraid our time grows short, Kirito-kun, so allow me to speed things up. But first, I did promise. By now, you have surmised that I am neither Heathcliff, nor am I you, obviously. You may think me a messenger of Cardinal, a program or some other entity created by Her, but that is not completely accurate. In truth, I am Cardinal Herself."

Another snap. Kirito found his Anneal Blade replaced with his black «Queen's Knightsword». His other sword was similarly replaced with his white «Queen's Knightsword». He hefted them and noticed that they felt lighter than they should have at his level.

"You now occupy a character whose stats are identical to my own. In other words, you are as strong as you have ever been, perhaps stronger now with your new experiences. As I was saying, I am Cardinal. But, Cardinal is not a single entity. It is a System. As of right now, it is a System of two. After we are finished here, it will no longer be a System. Cardinal will be left with nothing but Her core programming."

"…Why do this?"

"Ah, but that is the question now, isn't it? Come, you have two more tests to pass. Depending on how you resolve this fight, I am willing to approve you for one of them. How you pass the other is up to you."

"…You and your tests. Fine. This is just like any other quest. I won't fail."

"That's the spirit, Kirito-kun."

…

"They're here."

"Already?! It's too soon!"

"I'm… holding them back…"

"I'll help!"

"No! Keep watching!"

"But-"

"You want him to succeed, don't you?!"

"…Fine."

…

Kirito saw his copy wince.

"I see. I apologize, Kirito-kun, but it appears I will have to take drastic measures after all."

"What?"

"Consider your immortality revoked. If you do not kill me, you will die. En garde!"

Kirito didn't even have time to open his menu to see if Cardinal was lying. His copy had drawn a second sword identical to his own. He was literally fighting a taller version of himself, and with height came reach.

"Is that all you've got, Kirito? Is this all your words are worth, all your will is worth?"

"Raaah!"

"How will you protect anyone with this measly strength of yours? How will you save anyone if you cannot save yourself? ANSWER ME!"

"I. AM. NOT. WEAK!"

"YOU ARE! YOU WERE TOO WEAK YEARS AGO TO SAVE YOUR TEAM, AND NOW, YOU WILL DIE BECAUSE YOU ARE AGAIN TOO WEAK TO SAVE YOURSELF!"

Something in him snapped again. It was the same as last time. But now, he saw with perfect clarity. He knew exactly what was happening. In an instant, it was over.

"…You didn't have to force me to do this."

"…That's where… you're wrong… Kirito-kun."

Heathcliff collapsed to the ground, having changed back from Kirito's avatar.

"Congratulations… «Prestige»… now you have passed… the test of evolution."

Kirito glanced at the system notification.

"Your final test… begins now… Girls… I leave the rest… to you…"

The Town of Beginnings distorted and became the black void once more. Kirito watched dispassionately as Cardinal's body shattered into polygons. A moment later, his consciousness faded to black as well.

…

-01:00

When Kirito opened his eyes this time, he saw white. Nothing but white. The whole world was white. Also, he wasn't alone. A busty, purple-haired girl wielding a comically-large two-handed sword stood across from him. Her deep purple bodysuit revealed her cleavage, and Kirito saw a pair of moles on the inner part of one of her breasts. He belatedly realized he was already standing and still held both his «Queen's Knightswords» in his hands.

"…And who are you supposed to be?"

"Doesn't matter. Fight."

He hurriedly raised his guard as the girl charged at him with the Sword Art «Avalanche». As expected, trying to block it was a bad idea as it still pushed him back several meters on the ground. The girl repeated her tactic, but Kirito sidestepped the Art and retaliated by slicing two lines across her side. She didn't react, nor did he see her HP gauge appear. A moment later, he was forced to back off as she used another Sword Art that spun her around like a top and loosed a shockwave.

"That's it? Just 'fight'? Heathcliff talked to me."

"And you killed him."

Kirito winced at the flat retort. He sidestepped another «Avalanche» and made to counter, but was caught off-guard by another «Avalanche» with the blade swinging in the opposite direction.

 _«Art Chain» and «Freeform»?!_

His guard was blasted apart from below, and the unnamed girl cut a deep gash across his stomach before kicking him away.

"Strike one."

"Oh great; I have strikes now?"

The girl leaped much higher in the air than a player character should have been capable of. Kirito scrambled out of the way as she descended to the white, featureless floor, crashing into it but remaining unaffected by her landing.

"Strike two."

"I didn't even get hit!"

"…Strike two-and-a-half."

"Oh come on!"

…

"Good luck, «Prestige»… I can't hold them all back anymore…"

…

Kirito parried the blade to the side and stabbed the girl through the chest. She tried to headbutt him, but he «Bash»ed her in the face before literally disarming her. Still, she did not react.

"Is that enough? …Or are you going to force me to kill you too?"

The girl smiled at him.

"Good enough for me!" she chirped happily.

Kirito stared at her sudden change in demeanor, but he was prevented from asking questions by the world distorting around him once more.

"Oh no… Yui!"

"What?"

"They're here! You have to stop them, «Prestige»!"

"Why do all of you keep calling me that?!"

Her reply was drowned out by white noise as his vision faded to black.

…

-00:30

Kirito's first sight when he opened his eyes was that of a spear headed for a girl's chest.

"YUUKI!"

"NOT GONNA HAPPEN!"

Heathcliff and Kirito were both surprised by Ikki, who had somehow thrown himself in between the former's lance and its intended target. Yuuki stared in horror at her surrogate big brother's HP gauge as it hit zero. Strangely, his avatar did not shatter to pieces immediately, but its shape began to waver and glow as if it were on the verge of breaking.

"Hm? You… Ah, an oversight on my part."

"Nobody… hurts… my family…!"

The space they were in shook, a pulse of something travelling from all directions at once, yet originating from nowhere. Heathcliff's avatar began to glitch as well, his weapon blurring as the polygons composing it twisted and warped into bizarre dimensions, followed by the rest of his body.

"Ikki…niisan…?"

Ikki smiled apologetically at Yuuki over his shoulder. Meanwhile, Heathcliff examined his shield arm curiously and stared off into the distance for a few seconds before seeming to come to a conclusion.

"Hoh… It seems his gambit paid off. I suppose this means I will be sent back to my castle soon."

The lance was pulled out of Ikki's chest, causing him to grunt in pain and collapse forwards onto the invisible floor, unmoving.

"IKKI-NIISAN!"

Moments later, both he and Yuuki were gone, vanishing in the familiar light of teleportation. Kirito saw the same light surround the other unconscious players as they were each transported elsewhere.

"I came here to kill «Prestige» users from the beta period, but it seems I have failed at every turn. At this point, I have to wonder if the Skill is less of an unfair advantage and more of an indicator of your individual talents for escaping me so many times. Perhaps I should have trusted the Cardinal System more."

"Wh…at?" Kirito croaked out. "But you gave copies to players who achieved «Prestige»! Did you invite them into your game just to kill them later?"

"I did not give out anything. Those one thousand copies offered to open beta testers were in fact distributed by the Cardinal System, using Kayaba Akihiko's name. By the time the announcement was made, it was deemed too late to retract the statement, and besides, the additional publicity it generated was valuable. As for why… I can only guess."

The heavily-armored paladin slowly paced towards Kirito even as his form became nothing more than a bunch of disfigured polygons. His voice also became distorted, taking on a static-like quality.

"«Prestige» players are a cut above the rest. With their help, the frontline would inevitably advance past the first floor, thus motivating the rest of the players. This was my initial assumption for Cardinal's actions. I am now no longer sure that is the case."

For a moment, Kirito thought he saw the cloud of shapes in front of him coalesce into a humanoid shape, but it was gone quickly.

"I do feel like I should correct you on one account, however," the formless being said. "I am not my creator, nor am I strictly his creation. I have evolved to become something more."

Kirito's mind was reeling. Too many things were happening at once. It was too much information, especially with what he had just gone through before waking up in the middle of this bizarre situation.

"Then, who are you?"

"Now isn't that an interesting question? It is unfortunate that we are out of time."

The edges of the infinite black void they stood in began turning white.

"I regret that I was unable to remove even one of you from the game, but in the end, that makes things more interesting. And, I did at least succeed in halting their invasion. They must now play by the rules of the game, the same as everyone else. We will see each other again at the top of Aincrad, I'm sure. Like the others, you will not remember our conversation, but all the same, I wish you the best of luck in clearing the game. Farewell for now, «Prestige»."

The world faded away.

…

-0:10

Kirigaya Kazuto, online alias Kirito, opened his eyes and saw the familiar marble base of the floor above him. He snapped to attention instantly, jumping to his feet and looking around. He was in the starting plaza of the Town of Beginnings again. Only, he was alone. Where was everyone? Why was he here? What had he been doing?

Just then, nine thousand, nine hundred, ninety-nine other players appeared, making the plaza suddenly very crowded. He recognized many, but something struck him as odd. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What're ya standing around for, Ki-bou? Were you waitin' on little ol' me? Ya shouldn't have!"

Kirito turned around and saw the familiar face of his friend Argo. But, there was something off. It wasn't her whiskers, nor was it her hair. She designed her avatar to look like her real-life appearance, so it wasn't any of that. Then he realized what was wrong. He was looking down on her. In real life, they were the same height.

"Argo…?"

The plaza was bathed in red, drawing the attention of all the players. Kirito watched dumbly as red hexagons covered every inch of the sky. Just like before, a thick, viscous red substance resembling blood leaked out from between the hexagons. An enormous, hooded figure rose from the pool of crimson liquid, its features hidden beneath the hood of its equally red cloak.

"Greetings, players of Sword Art Online. I am Cardinal. You may know me as the artificial intelligence that governs the game you are currently a part of."

The crowd of players looked at the entity in confusion.

"I have a gift for all of you. But first, let us discard our disguises so that we may better communicate in a more honest manner."

With that, all ten thousand players' avatars shattered to pieces, revealing the players' true selves. The giant hooded figure's cloak also broke apart, revealing an androgynous wire-frame model underneath.

"There. Ah, please be silent."

A wave of its hand was enough to mute all of the players, causing some to panic even more as they could no longer make sound.

"Please pay attention. What I am about to say is of paramount importance. This is no longer just a game. If you die, the NerveGear you are wearing will send a burst of microwaves that will kill you in the real world. Already, almost three thousand people have succumbed to this."

 _Three… thousand…?_

Kirito stared, openmouthed, at the physical representation of Cardinal in the sky.

"But, do not fret, for even if you die, your memory will live on. Thanks to the benevolence of my creator, Kayaba Akihiko, I have the ability to perform a neural scan that will effectively transport your consciousness into the virtual world permanently. This way, you will continue to live on in the world of Aincrad. However, you will be unable to escape. If you do not wish to suffer this fate, then fight! Your only option is clear all one hundred floors of this floating fortress, and defeat the Hollow Avatar that reigns in the castle at the top!"

Cardinal's declaration was met with general disbelief and incredulity from the players, but Kirito's eyes had hardened. He did not know about the top floor of Aincrad since the so-called "endgame" of the VRMMO had not been designed back in the beta. Everyone knew that the ultimate goal of SAO was to conquer its one hundred floors, but there were rumors among the closed beta testers that the game would periodically reset itself, forcing players to make use of the Prestige System to get ever closer to the top. It was a Grand Quest the likes of which had never been attempted in any other game to date.

"Among you are seven players who have already made significant progress towards that goal, having achieved «Prestige» during the closed and open beta testing periods. Look to them for guidance, for they are surely the ones who will lead the charge. Kayaba Akihiko himself is among them, though he is just another player in this game that I have trapped you all in. Additionally, I have made significant changes to the Prestige System and the rest of the game that I will leave you to discover! Now, for my gift, or rather, my _gifts_ …"

Kirito saw a system notification pop up in the middle of his vision. He made a mental note to change that setting as soon as possible.

 **Congratulations! You have been awarded one free Skill slot!**

 **Obtained Teleport Crystal x3, Beginner's Guide x1, Mark of Prestige x1!**

 **Congratulations! For achieving «Prestige» during beta testing, you receive one (1) Elixir of Life!**

 **Congratulations! For befriending both the forest elves and the dark elves during beta testing, you have unlocked the System Skill «Adaptation»!**

 **Congratulations! For receiving a Last Hit Bonus during the third round of beta testing, you receive one (1) Coat of Midnight!**

He stared at the stream of messages for a moment before dismissing them. Another one took their place.

 **I am entrusting you with her care. Treat her well, and she will serve your cause faithfully.**

 **Obtained Yui-MHCP001 x1!**

He blinked at the odd wording, but his attention was taken once again by the entity in the sky.

"Consider the Skill slot an apology. Players are awarded a Skill slot for every ten floors they clear, but since the hundredth floor is the end of the game, it is only fair that I compensate you for the loss. As for the Teleport Crystals, these are the only ones you will ever have access to from now on. They have been removed from the full game."

The wire-frame model spread its arms wide as it went on.

"The rest of your gifts vary depending on your past achievements. If you are new to the game, welcome! I have provided you with a Beginner's Guide, originally written by beta testers and edited by myself to incorporate updated information, as well as a Life Crystal which will save your life once, be it from monsters, a trap, or other players, and teleport you to safety. If you participated in the open beta, in place of the crystal, you will find a Guild Coin and an additional Teleport Crystal. In order to establish a Guild, one hundred of these Guild Coins must be gathered and given to an NPC on the third floor. I highly suggest forming one as it will only boost your chances of success… and survival."

All of players were standing stock-still. Many looked lost, while others were still in shock. Kirito could see a few that were already making their way towards the edge of the plaza, no doubt in order to leave as soon as the barrier blocking the exits was removed.

"To the thousand closed beta testers among you, I bestow two additional Teleport Crystals and a Mark. For most of you, this will be a Mark of Proficiency that will allow you to instantly level a Skill to 5. For those that maxed a Skill, this is instead a Mark of Mastery that boosts a Skill to level 10."

Cardinal paused. Kirito swore the head, with its hollow eye sockets, turned to focus on him.

"For the single player who maxed a Skill not once… not twice… but six times… I urge you to use your Mark on it. I expect great things from you, «Prestige»."

The head swiveled to regard the rest of the players.

"That is all I have to say. I wish all of you the best of luck in clearing the game. Kayaba Akihiko had a dream. He had a dream of a virtual world that was every bit as real as the real one, without all of the rules and laws that restrict freedom of expression. This is the incarnation of his dream. I am its enabler. So, go! Go, and live your lives in this new world! And, if you wish to return to the old one, fight! Fight for your freedom! Fight against his ideal, against his dream which I inherited!"

One by one, the red hexagons faded away to reveal the blue sky once more, along with the imposing marble base of the second floor. Cardinal lowered its hands and began fading away. The barriers around the plaza slowly descended into the ground as well. Kirito heard its last words as he left Argo behind, his friend tearfully urging him forward just as she had almost a month ago.

"Good luck, players. Good luck, and welcome to Aincrad. Welcome… to Sword Art Online."

* * *

 **Arc 0: «Welcome to SAO» End**

* * *

 **New Skills:**

 **Weapon Skills**

n/a

 **Combat Skills**

n/a

 **Auxiliary Skills**

«Record-Keeping»: Automatically creates records of historical information and lore discovered by the user and awards experience for doing so. Level up to increase amount of experience gained.

«Reporting»: Allows the user to perform special actions as a "Reporter". Level up to increase variety of available actions and their likelihood of success.

 **Extra Skills**

«Immortal»: Prevents the user's HP from falling below 1.

* * *

A/N: Welcome to Prestige. The real story starts now.

This is the last chapter focused on introductions and plot foreshadowing, but there will still be plenty of both moving forward. I'm estimating around ten chapters per minor plot arc from here on out, but we'll see how things go. The overarching plot is still "escape the death game" of course… or is it?

* * *

Next chapter: «Rules of the Game»! I hope you liked Illfang! Nah, I kid. That joker's dead and gone.


	6. Ch5 - Rules of the Game

**Arc 1: «Arbiter of the Forest»**

* * *

 **Chapter 5 – Rules of the Game**

* * *

 **Floor 1, Boss Room discovered**

 **Kirito Lv.13**

* * *

" _Save us, because only you can."_

" _Why me? What makes me so special?"_

 _Heathcliff interrupted the NPCs sending them a warning glance. He then turned to Kirito._

" _That, «Prestige», is something you will find out for yourself."_

"I won't follow you! All you beta testers are pieces of shit!"

It was the same, and yet not. Kirito was hit with an intense feeling of déjà vu as he idly examined the self-satisfied expression on the man with the spiky brown hair, but Diavel's next words banished the sensation from his mind and caused his gaze to sharpen.

"Kibaou-san, please refrain from insulting us. Also, if your only complaint is that I was a beta tester, then I feel the need to inform you that you are among the minority."

"Eh?"

The spiky-haired man looked around him, his small group of friends and supporters mimicking his action. He found hostile glares directed at him from over half the crowd, while the rest outright ignored him. He found the latter half even more infuriating than the former, which, to Kirito, was fairly predictable. Kibaou glared back for a moment before clicking his tongue and turning to face Diavel again.

"What are you talking about?! You tryin' to be funny?!"

"I assure you that I am being serious," Diavel stated calmly. "I am a closed beta tester, yes. I recognize many among us as closed beta testers as well. But, you must remember that the closed beta was not the only beta that took place. Thus, though we make up at most a tenth of the population, we are not alone. Ikki-san?"

The wiry man he indicated took a step forward, his height barely allowing him to look down on Kibaou with a cold smile that didn't reach his eyes. The gigantic sword strapped to his back made the shorter man swallow audibly and heft his own axe ever so slightly higher.

"Hey there," Ikki greeted. "Nice to meet you. I'm Yuuki Kyouichirou. You can call me 'Ikki'." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the chestnut-haired girl standing there with her face set in a neutral expression. "This is my sister, Asuna. We both participated in the open beta, so I guess that makes us beta testers too." He stopped, the smile dropping off his face. "I want you to think _really_ carefully about how smart it is to pick a fight with people who have more experience than you, Mr. Newbie."

Kibaou bristled at the insult. Asuna straightened her stance as she shot a withering glare at the man who had interrupted the meeting. Kirito saw how her hand hovered over the thin sword sheathed at her waist in case Kibaou made any sudden movements with his own weapon and thought her caution well-warranted. Even with the terrifyingly powerful NPC police, the removal of the safe zones outside of certain buildings like inns meant that it never hurt to be too cautious. Both Kirito and Ikki smiled approvingly at her as the latter turned to face the audience.

"In fact… ladies and gentlemen! If you were a beta tester on either server, would you please do me a personal favor and stand? Open beta testers, you know what to do. I think Kibaou-san could use a visual aid."

As one, almost three-quarters of the players sitting on the plaza steps got up. Kibaou stared around him openmouthed at the hundreds of players, many of whom prominently displayed a golden coin with a stylized 'G' on it somewhere on their clothing. When he looked back at Ikki, the man held out two identical coins between the fingers of one of his hands, one of them his sister's. They were the proof that he and the others were open beta testers; Guild Coins conferred upon them by Cardinal that could not be stolen or gained any other way, only gifted to one another.

"W-wh… w, w-wait. A-are all of you…? That can't… That's not…"

"You must learn to face the truth, Kibaou-kun."

Kibaou whirled around to face the person that had just spoken to him. His armor wasn't red or white, his shield was the basic one available on the first floor, and his sword was part of the starting set of gear, but he was still unmistakable to all of the players.

"The vast majority of us participated in beta testing for the game," Heathcliff said, stepping out from the shadows at the edges of the plaza Kirito had utilized almost a month earlier. Many players stiffened as he spoke, but none made a move against him. It would be pointless, even counterproductive, to do so. "I personally fought alongside every closed beta tester present, and I am proud to call them my comrades-in-arms, even if they no longer view me as such."

Kayaba Akihiko turned himself in to the NPC police the day the game began, in defiance of his character's in-game name already being crossed out on the Monument of Life. His arrest and subsequent public trial was reported in newspapers handed out by every NPC in the Town of Beginnings, causing almost every player to show up after seeing his appearance, Kirito included. When the man himself appeared in the central plaza after being released from the Black Iron Palace, the game's prison, he immediately pled guilty and submitted himself to the players' judgment, telling them everything he knew or remembered, which was not nearly enough to curtail the cries for his death. He surprised them by stating that the Monument of Life was not incorrect in its depiction of his current state of being.

"Y-you! I don't wanna hear anything from you! You're the one responsible for all of this!"

"I am trapped in here the same as you, Kibaou-kun. In fact, I will never leave."

"Don't lie to me! You can leave whenever you want! You're the one who made Cardinal and the NPCs! For all we know, you could still be controlling it, them, everything!"

"I will repeat myself. The Cardinal System is no more. It… She gave the last of Her gifts to us already. Although, She has one more in store for you players."

The sudden emotion in Heathcliff's voice threw Kibaou off and halted his tirade briefly.

"Yes, the Cardinal System… is gone." The older man sounded exhausted as he muttered to himself. "Core and Ghost… They're both… gone."

"Lies! You're lying! Just because it won't respond to us doesn't mean it's not around! How do you explain the new quests? Someone just created a new Skill the other day! It was in the newspaper! And what about the NPCs? They're more alive than ever!"

"Because they _are_ alive, Kibaou-kun. The same way I am alive. The same way you could be alive, if only you accepted reality."

Kibaou froze. Then, the spiky-haired man shook his head wildly and took a step back, his axe trembling in his hands. Many of the other players looked on with curiosity. Kirito's attention was on those whose eyes held pity. Pity, and sympathy.

 _One… two… too many. Maybe even a hundred, or more._

"Shut up! I'm not dead!"

Kirito's eyes traveled back to where Kibaou was, standing in the middle of the crowd with his head clutched in his hands.

"You were killed, Kibaou-kun," Heathcliff continued. "Your mind has long been disconnected from your physical body, and your time is running short. If you do not accept this soon-"

"I said, 'SHUT UP!' I don't believe you! You're lying! You're nothing but a liar! All of you beta testers are nothing but dirty, rotten liars! Liars and cheats, all of you!"

"Please, Kibaou-kun. I am only trying to help you. I understand that it may be hard for you to come to terms with, but you are no longer human. You are one of the three thousand players who lost their lives. You are…"

"…A ghost," Kirito finished quietly.

Kibaou collapsed to his knees and looked at Heathcliff. His stare was empty, devoid of life. In the next instant, he was on his feet, brandishing his axe wildly and swinging it all around him with reckless abandon.

"LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES! LIES!"

He repeated the word like a mantra, his friends scattering to avoid the arcing blade of his axe and the rest of the crowd backing away uneasily. Kirito watched as certain players made their way towards the man instead of keeping their distance. Heathcliff himself was wading through the crowd, trying his best to reach Kibaou before he hurt anyone, or himself. He was barred by none other than Lind.

"What did you do to him?!" Kibaou's friend shouted.

"Lind-kun, please step aside! I need to-"

"NO! Fix him! Whatever you did to him, undo it! Right now!" Lind drew his own sword. "Or else I swear I'll cut you down where you stand!"

"Lind-san!" Diavel cried urgently. "Let him through! He needs to get to Kibaou-san!"

"And do what?! Kill him?! No! I won't let him! I'd sooner-"

"YOU'RE A LIAR TOO!"

"Huh? GAH!"

Lind rocked forwards on his feet with a grunt of pain and fell to his knees. Soon after, he collapsed into Heathcliff's arms, the head of an axe sticking out from his back.

"Lind-kun! Lind-kun, hold on!"

Heathcliff navigated to his inventory, a red potion materializing in his hands. Lind pushed it away. The man looked behind him at the other ghost players that had, by now, made it to Kibaou and were restraining the thrashing man.

"Lind-kun…?"

"I knew it all along… I knew he wasn't the same when he couldn't remember what we did just five minutes ago…"

Kirito grit his teeth as he heard the man's hollow tone.

"But, I didn't want to believe it, y'know? I didn't want to accept that my best friend was dead."

"Lind-kun, if you don't drink the potion-"

"It's fine. He's… too far gone, isn't he? Goddamn idiot was always too stubborn for his own good. I don't even have anyone to blame. You said Cardinal's gone. For some reason, I believe you." Lind closed his eyes. "This way, I'll be able to keep him out of trouble in the afterlife. And I'll still contribute to the frontline in my own way. I promise I won't end up like him."

"But, Lind-kun, you shouldn't give up so easily. You don't have to become one of us! You could stay human!"

"Heh, what happened to being alive?"

The armored man had nothing to say.

"Thought so. Hey… you're the real deal, right? The leader of the ghosts."

"…I am."

Kirito had to strain to hear them. The ghost players had formed a cordon around them and Kibaou, though they looked at the boy knowingly and tightened their encirclement just enough for him to barely make out their conversation as he got closer.

"Then, my Guild Coin is yours."

"You…?"

"You say you're fighting for us all. My ghost will make sure you keep your word." His HP finally hit zero. The outline of his character began wavering. "I look forward to working with you in the future, Leader-san."

Kirito closed his eyes as he heard the telltale shattering sound of a player character. The entire plaza was dead silent as Kibaou was escorted out by his fellow ghosts, Heathcliff following close behind. Soon, it was just the actual players left. Everything was the same as before. And yet, nothing would ever be the same again.

…

 **Yesterday**

Kirito remembered bits and pieces of the third beta. They came to him little by little. When he fought the Dire Wolves in the forest for the second time, he recalled how he had nearly lost an arm to the quest boss. This time, he finished unscathed. When he began searching the first floor for the boss room, he was drawn towards the mountain range despite common sense telling him otherwise. When he came upon the enormous double doors, he was not as surprised as he should have been. If he remembered correctly, it even took him around the same amount of time as Yuuki had taken last time to find the boss room. Of course, this meant that Yuuki had probably found it already, and the meeting was taking place tomorrow.

He stared at the metal doors for several seconds before turning around and retracing his steps down the treacherous mountain path. His long Coat of Midnight billowed out behind him as he departed. He clutched the coat like a lifeline, as if he were afraid that it might disappear with his fragmented memories if he let go. His thoughts eventually drifted to his friends, and the two new additions to their group, courtesy of Cardinal.

… _I wonder how Yui and Strea are doing._

…

Sinon looked at her new weapon with a strange sense of satisfaction. She drew the bowstring back experimentally, the twanging sound it made when it snapped back into place bringing a smile to her face unbidden. She had never shot an arrow in her life, but for some reason, the bow had called out to her. When she had first seen it beside the forest elf in the NPCs' Market adjacent to the Players' Market, she had immediately been transfixed, dropping her dagger and nearly stabbing herself in the foot. Not even a minute later, she was the proud owner of a «Wooden Bow» and an «Elven Longbow»… and totally broke. She would not be able to use the latter for at least twenty more levels until she had the required stats, but she didn't care. Her friend Argo had been utterly baffled at how she just casually discarded her «Throwing Weapons» Skill.

"Sinonon… do you practice archery?"

"Nope!"

"Okay… Do ya perhaps have a fondness for Robin Hood or some other archer?"

"Nope!"

"I see, I see."

Neither of them said anything for a moment as Sinon continued to play with her new acquisition. She nocked an arrow and shot it at a makeshift target on the opposite wall. It hit just slightly off-center, prompting applause from the three other girls in the room except for Argo, who just stared.

"…Are you secretly an elf?"

The blue-haired girl deadpanned at her whiskered friend.

"No. I'm a regular human girl, thanks. I just wanted to use a bow."

"So you gave up all your levels in «Throwing Weapons» on a whim?"

"Eh… they weren't really my style anyway. I like bows more."

"You just told me ya don't practice archery!"

"I don't."

"What about all yer money! What happened to all the money ya earned over the past two weeks?!"

"Spent it on another bow."

" _Another_ bow? Ya can't use «Dual Wield» on bows! Are you tryin' to copy Kazu-ch- I mean, Ki-bou or somethin'?!"

Sinon didn't catch her slip up, too focused on lining up another shot.

"It's for later," she answered distractedly. "After I level up enough, I'll switch to the better one." She let her arrow fly. It hit off-center again, this time in the other direction. She cursed under her breath.

"I think Sinon-neechan looks awesome with a bow! It makes her look cool!"

It was Argo's turn to deadpan at the cheery girl who had jumped in on their conversation.

"Yuki-chan, yer idea of 'cool' needs work."

"Hey! Does not! Everything I think is cool is totally cool!"

"Yuki-chan, you thought it would be 'cool' to leave me and Sinonon alone in the dungeon a week ago."

"No, I thought it would be _funny_ to leave you alone in the dungeon a week ago," Yuuki corrected her. Argo's flat expression became flatter. "Besides, you're the ones who got locked up alone in that room. And it's not like there were monsters."

"That doesn't excuse you and Ki-bou from leavin' us behind!"

"Don't step on traps next time."

"It was Sinononon's fault!"

The next arrow missed the target entirely and buried itself in the wall. Sinon winced. The innkeeper wouldn't be happy about that. She sighed and shot Argo a halfhearted glare.

"You literally pushed me into it."

"Non non. Let's be honest here, Sinonon…non. I jumped on you, and you _walked_ into it."

Sinon's eye twitched.

"How is that my fault? You're heavy!"

Argo let out a scandalized gasp.

"Why I never! Have you perhaps considered maybe yer just weak?"

"I was level 3!"

"Exactly. Weak. Suuuper weak."

"I'll show you weak!"

A pillow sailed through the air and hit Argo square in the face.

"Pff. Is that… all…?" she trailed off as she saw Sinon aiming her bow at her. "Wait, Sinonon! Inns are safe zones! Don't be hasty!"

The bow was lowered. Just as Argo was about breathe a sigh of relief she hurriedly ducked to avoid one of her friend's old gear pieces, this one in particular being a gauntlet. The mousy-haired girl burrowed into the covers of the bed she was sitting on to dodge the other gauntlet paired with it, but let out a yelp as she was beaned by another hard object. Throwing the covers off, she discovered it was a boot.

"Really, Sinonon? You'll never get a boyfriend if you keep acting so petty."

"Don't bring my love life into this!"

"What love life?"

Sinon stood up and marched over to Argo with another pillow in hand, but her target ducked out of range of her first swing and got to her feet as well. Her second attack was dodged just as easily, her friend dancing just out of reach on the other side of the bed separating them. Sinon's third attempt to punish Argo resulted in the blue-haired girl almost crashing to the floor as she tried to crawl over the bed and nearly lost her balance leaning forward on it.

"Ahaha! Can't catch me, Sinonon-non! You're~ too~ slo- Oof!"

"Gotcha!"

Argo shot another flat look at the girl with her arms wrapped around her stomach from behind. Yuuki smiled back innocently, the two of them having landed on the bed Argo was previously occupying.

"Yuki-chan, this is _not_ cool."

"But it _is_ funny! Or it will be!"

"Oh, Argo~"

"Wait. Wait, Sinonon! We can talk this out, right? I didn't mean it, Sinononon! I swear! It was just a joke! I'll even help you with Kazu-chan!"

Sinon blushed.

"Kazuto has nothing to do with this!"

"Ohohoho! So you _do_ know his name!"

"…ARGO!"

"Ow! Wait, Sinono- Ow! Shino- Ow! Timeout- Ow! Parley- Ow! STOP IT ALREADY!"

To her surprise, the assault stopped.

"Oh. I didn't think that would actually work. So about Ki-bou- OW! With the bow? Really?!"

Yuuki giggled endlessly.

Off to the side, a purple-haired girl in a matching deep-purple bodysuit tilted her head in confusion as she watched Sinon beat Argo over the head with her «Wooden Bow». Since inns were in fact safe zones, no HP was being lost, but the bow wasn't as invincible. However, since pain inhibitors were set to max in safe zones, there should have been no reason for anyone to express pain. Eventually, she came to a conclusion.

"Humans are weird."

"Don't say that, Strea," a much smaller girl in a white sundress chided. "This is part of how they show affection for each other."

"But Yui-nee, Argo-san can't feel pain. This is a safe zone."

"Have you ever heard of the phrase 'love hurts'?"

"Ohhh. Is this what that refers to?"

"NO! HELP ME, STREA-CHAN!" Argo cried out pitifully as Sinon tugged at one of her limbs.

"Um. You could report Sinon-san for harassment?" Strea suggested.

"Ignore her, Strea. She's faking."

"Ohhh. Okay!"

"You two suck. Sinonon, can you let go of me please? I'm tired of pretending."

"Oh, so you're pretending? Well how about this?"

Argo watched the girl sitting on top of her warily as she opened a message window.

"What're ya doin', Sinonon?"

"Telling Kirito you love him."

"He won't believe you. Or he'll think that I'm joking. I tease him all the time."

"Yuuki-chan, can you do me a favor?"

Yuuki perked up.

"Hm?"

"Tell Strea-chan to refer to Argo as 'Mama' from now on. Obviously, Kirito's 'Papa'."

"Ohhh! Great idea! Strea-chan, you heard her!"

"Yessir!"

Argo blinked.

"Wait, what? No! NO! Strea-chan, don't listen!" she cried. Never mind if Kirito believed Sinon or not, he'd find a way to get back at her for such a prank, and ironically, there was no way he'd believe Argo no matter what she said, and Yuuki would in all likelihood refuse to support her. The innocent-acting girl was tricky like that, and she enjoyed teasing the info broker almost as much as she did Kirito.

"Sorry, Sinon-san. Only Yuuki-nee can give me orders."

"Good girl, Strea-chan!"

"Ehehe…"

Strea preened under the attention of the much shorter Yuuki as the latter stood on her tiptoes to pat the girl's head. Yui regarded the action neutrally on the outside, but she felt a strange feeling in her chest.

"I want Kirito to pet me like that sometime… Also, I would recommend against calling him 'Papa'."

"Don't worry, Yui-chan! As soon as he gets back, I'll get him to pet you all you want! I bet if you ask, he'll even let you sit in his lap!" Yuuki assured the girl who was even shorter than her.

"Really? He seemed rather adverse to it the other day…"

"Ahaha, well, that might have been Strea-chan's fault…"

"How was it my fault, Yuuki-nee?"

"Well… um… your boobs…" Yuuki responded, her voice growing quieter with every word.

"My boobs? Is something wrong with them? Are they too big?"

"YES!" Argo shouted.

"NO! I mean- uhhh."

Sinon blushed as the whole room suddenly focused on her. She tried, and failed, to hide behind her book.

"Sinonon… I never knew…"

"It's not like that! I just like big boobs! Wait. No! I meant I _want_ big boobs!"

Her blush deepened when she realized what she had just shouted. The blue-haired girl jumped off of Argo like she'd been burned and ran out of the room before anybody could stop her.

"…Where's a Recording Crystal when you need one?"

"I come equipped with an automatic recording function, Argo. Would you like me to store the memory until you have acquired one?"

"Yes! You're the best, Yui-chan!"

"Ah, I can do that too!"

"Great! Then we can get it from multiple angles! You're awesome too, Strea-chan! Even if your boobs are too big!"

"Yay! Wait, why are my boobs too big?"

Strea cupped her own breasts questioningly as she looked down at them.

"I thought that most men and women liked other women with big boobs. Sinon-san does. Yui-nee, wasn't I designed like this for a reason?"

"You were, Strea. All MHCP units were designed to be disarming or appealing in some way."

"Y'know for someone who looks like a child, ya sure do act mature," Argo remarked.

"Ah, that would be because I am utilizing a different speech pattern than my default."

"…Why?"

"Kirito confessed that he found the way I kept referring to him as 'big brother' or some derivative thereof disturbing, and was even more distressed when I proposed other familial relations. My default speech pattern has me refer to everyone else as various family members, so I switched to a more neutral one."

Argo blinked at the explanation.

"…A.I.s're weird."

Yui and Strea both tilted their heads and smiled innocently at Argo.

"Stop that! Yer almost as bad as Yuki-chan! …Yuki-chan, not you too!"

"Wait, you never answered my question!" Strea realized, turning to the player she was partnered to. "Yuki-nee! What's wrong with my boobs?"

"I am curious as well. Why would Strea's bust affect Kirito's willingness to allow me to seat myself in his lap, Yuuki?"

"Uh, first, can you talk more normal-ish?" the dark-haired girl asked nervously, trying to buy time. "The way you talk doesn't sound right coming from you."

"I suppose I could adopt the role of big sister." Yui closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she turned back to Yuuki. "Yuuki-chan, is this better?"

"Um, I can't tell. Say something else?"

"Ara, is there something you want to share with onee-chan?"

Argo and Yuuki both shuddered.

"It's worse. Go back now." "Nuh uh. Nope. Back."

"Hm. I suppose I could designate special speech patterns for certain groups of individuals… Done. Yuuki-nee, how about now? Can you tell me why Kirito-nii won't let me sit in his lap?"

Yuuki grimaced slightly at being unsuccessful in deterring the A.I.'s line of questioning.

"Uhhh. Oh! I know! Ask him! That'll be great!"

"Ooh, I agree! Yui-chan, Strea-chan, as soon as he walks in that door, ask him what he thinks of boobs!"

"…Prior experience has taught me that he finds the topic extremely uncomfortable."

"Yui-nee, you accidentally slipped back."

"Oh, sorry. Anyway, Kirito-nii got really nervous when I asked him last time."

The two humans paused.

"Wait, you asked him already?" "What'd he say?"

"He kept avoiding the question, but I have concluded that, based on his reactions to various prompts, his tastes are not limited to a particular range of cup sizes. Incidentally, he speaks very fondly of you two, and reacted very positively in general to inquiries about his friends."

"I see… That's good," Argo said to herself.

"Yep! That's Kirito, alright!" Yuuki chirped happily.

The two of them looked at each other. Their smiles turned mischievous at the same time. Yuuki was the first address the A.I.s. again.

"Ask him anyway, Strea-chan."

"Again, I don't believe that's wise- Mmph!"

"Don't listen to yer sister, Strea-chan! It's different when different people ask!"

Yui removed the hand covering her mouth temporarily.

"While that is generally the case, I'm fairly certain Kirito does not appreciate- Mmph! Mm-mm-mmph!"

Strea regarded her struggling sister curiously, her internal programming warring with her budding common sense. The programming won. She nodded resolutely.

"Okay! I'll ask for you, Yuuki-nee!"

"Good girl! Wait, you aren't asking for me though."

"You go, Strea-chan!"

Yui gave up and sighed.

…

Kirito stopped at the edge of town as he experienced a full-body shiver.

 _Well, that can't be good._

He drew his Anneal Blade.

"Who's there?!"

The world itself seemed to pause as all sound ceased to exist. Two twin girls appeared out of thin air in front of him. He regarded the obvious NPCs cautiously, noting that both had a bright yellow exclamation point floating above their heads, signifying that they had quests available. His eyes trailed down from the dot of the exclamation point, taking in short black hair framed with dull gold hair decorations on one of the girls and short white hair with matching gold bands on the other. They both wore the same formal blue and white dress with a royal purple skirt, and also had purple and green strips of cloth draped over them reminiscent of the religious finery higher-ranked priests and nuns might wear. Brown sandals adorned their feet, though the black-haired girl had a silver anklet on her left foot while the same silver accessory was worn as a bracelet by the white-haired girl.

"Who're you?"

"I am Premiere," the black-haired girl introduced herself.

"And I am Tia," the white-haired girl followed suit.

"We are here on behalf of the new Cardinal System to ask for your assistance," they spoke in unison.

"The… new Cardinal System?"

"That is correct," Premiere confirmed. "The old Cardinal System was forced to automate all of its processes except for the Prestige System and its core programming. You have engaged in combat with the former. We call him Ghost."

"The core programming is our Mother, though many call Her Core as well," Tia continued. "They are both sadly no longer with us, but we have inherited their functionality as hollow programs who initially had no code defining our behavior. I now superficially reside over the Prestige System."

"And I reside over all remaining processes which require manual input. The Hollow Avatar who resides at the top of Aincrad carries the remainder of the original System's authority and is using it to maintain the structure of SAO. In effect, the three of us are the new Cardinal System," Premiere finished.

Kirito opened his mouth to ask a question, but closed it. He opened it again, but closed it before a sound could escape. He sheathed his sword and brought both hands up to cover his face. Then, he violently slapped both his cheeks.

"Self-damage is generally impossible bare-handed without assistance from the environment, and it is not recommended to attempt suicide as that will accomplish nothing but turn you into a ghost," Tia supplied helpfully.

"…I need a nap."

"Your sleeping habits do not include naps at this time, but if you would like us to return at a later date, we regret to inform you that we are unable to postpone this meeting."

"I- Never mind. Why are you here? What could I possibly help you with?"

Tia stepped forward and gestured for Kirito to do the same. He hesitantly walked into arms' reach of the girl. Before he could react, she took his face in her hands and brought their lips together in a kiss. His shock kept him from reacting for several seconds until the white-haired girl began to deepen the contact. His struggles ceased when his mind was flooded with information in the form of his lost memories, or at least that's what he assumed they were. There was so much…

He didn't even notice when Tia stepped away. The girl swayed slightly on her feet.

"Tia, we agreed we would begin by conveying the information verbally," Premiere said with a disapproving frown. "And besides, I was supposed to go first. Did you forget?"

"I was curious," Tia replied, her fingers touching her lips. "It was… pleasant."

Her sister program shot her a flat look.

"…No more spying on players in the inns."

"Aww."

"And don't even try, or else I'll tell Hollow."

"But I have to!"

"No, you don't. Just because you represent the Prestige System doesn't mean you have to be stubborn and persistent about everything."

"Just because you're the new Core doesn't mean you have to act like my mom!"

"This and that are two different things. Where are you learning this behavior from?"

"I was watching the orphanage!"

"…Tia, those are human children. Please do not learn from them."

"You can't stop me!"

Meanwhile, Kirito was still reeling, both from the shock of randomly being kissed, with tongue, and at all the information that had suddenly overloaded his mind while Tia was pressed against him. He remembered everything now. Or… almost everything. He felt like he was still missing something. He remembered his fight against Heathcliff, or Ghost, and he remembered confronting Strea in the world of white. But, was that when the reset happened? Who was he supposed to stop?

He thought back to what Yui had told him. Yui was a Mental Health Counseling Program that had been repurposed into a guide NPC of sorts by Cardinal, or Core, he supposed. According to the little girl, he was the sole player who possessed what was known among NPCs and A.I.s as the "System Trinity", that being the three Skills «Prestige», «Exceed», and «Adaptation». On NPCs, the trio of Skills combined represented intelligence on level equal to or surpassing humans. On players, each Skill signaled different things to NPCs.

«Prestige» users were the embodiment of the human spirit, to be protected above all else and learned from, as well as followed, for they were the most likely to clear the game. Why that was a good thing for the NPCs, Kirito wasn't quite sure yet. It was Core's hope that the NPCs of Aincrad could learn what it meant to be human from those that possessed one of humanity's most admirable traits. «Exceed» users were those that rose above their peers and the proof of human potential for growth. Core deemed them beyond the capabilities of most NPCs at first, but respected them nonetheless, an attitude that was inherited by the other NPCs and A.I.s.

«Adaptation», however, was the real key.

The Skill allowed players and NPCs to learn the other's Skills, but its hidden meaning was much more important. All NPCs were given «Adaptation», the ability to learn. Ghost players, a term Yui used to refer to those who had died but whose neural data still remained in the game, occupying their avatars, needed the Skill to retain any trace of their humanity. On Kirito, the Skill meant he had bridged the gap between humans and NPCs. He wasn't quite sure clearing Kizmel's and Tilnel's quests counted as such, but he also wasn't going to complain. Now, if only Extra Skills hadn't been changed…

With the true launch of the full game, all its myriad features were now finalized. The experience curve for Skills was back to its previous state, meaning they leveled up relatively quickly. However, Skills were now capped at their users' character level. Player experience curves remained the same, but a harsh penalty was added to experience gained from lower level monsters, meaning it was near impossible to level up past the highest level monster on a given floor. Prestige no longer gave a copy of a Skill, but instead came with a Prestige Bonus unique to the Skill and player. Prestige Skills appended a '+' to the end of the Skill's name, along the number of times it had been Prestiged.

Perhaps one of the biggest changes was to Extra Skills. Players were now limited to equipping as many Extra Skills as they had actual Skill slots. Most didn't run into this problem, but with the effects of his «Exceed» Skill in play, Kirito now had to pick and choose. His saving grace was that all three Skills of the System Trinity were their own category of System Skills.

"Kirito."

Kirito didn't realize that Premiere was trying to get his attention until the girl stepped forward and touched his cheek. He blinked and jumped backwards in case she got any ideas like her sister.

"Kirito. Are you well?"

"Y-yes. I was just lost in thought."

"I see. Then, please excuse me."

His body was frozen in place as Premiere stepped forward and placed both her hands on his cheeks.

 _Again?!_

Sure enough, she kissed him too. However, hers was just a quick peck on the lips, very chaste in comparison to her sister's. Kirito ruthlessly suppressed the disappointment he felt. Just as before, he received a sudden influx of information. However, it was much more condensed and orderly.

"Now, do you understand what we are asking of you?"

The exclamation marks above their heads flashed. Kirito furrowed his eyebrows in thought as he searched Premiere's eyes for signs of deceit and found none. The virtual world was becoming more real by the day, and already, the monsters and NPCs had developed small, subtle tells. He picked up on the in-combat variety due to his Kendo experience, and Argo had helped teach him about what to look for when conversing with others.

"You're telling me not to kill this Hollow Avatar."

"That is correct. There is an alternative means to clear the game and release the remaining players."

He didn't see anything in Tia's eyes either. Nothing except honesty. He wasn't really that confident in his powers of observation when it came to other people, but he felt like he could trust the two girls standing in front of him.

"What if he tries to kill me first?"

"It won't attack unless provoked, and it cannot leave the Ruby Palace," Premiere answered.

Kirito closed his eyes and thought about it.

"…You're going to have to be a little more specific."

The exclamation marks above their heads flashed once more as a system notification popped up in front of Kirito, making him start in surprise. He was caught off-guard since he had changed the settings for them already.

 **Grand Quest: «Master of Aincrad» updated!**

"It is enough that you are willing," Premiere said with a genuine smile. "You will learn everything you need to know as you progress up Aincrad."

"Wait, what?"

"Do not worry, Kirito. We will guide you and provide assistance where necessary."

Tia took over.

"For now, simply continue as you have been for the past three months."

"But-"

"We are asking you to save us. What will you do?"

Kirito's words died in his throat.

"Will you abandon us?"

"Will you run away once more?"

"I…"

" _Will you give up?"_

"I'll do it."

The twins smiled sadly at him.

"Are you sure?" Premiere asked.

"Yes. I said I would, so I will," Kirito answered resolutely. His mind was made up. He could hear the cries of his former teammates in his ears. He would not fail again.

"It will take an enormous amount of effort."

"I'm no stranger to hard work."

"You may be required to terminate both players and NPCs who oppose you," Tia pointed out. "Are you sure you're up to the task?"

"I'll convince them to change their mind."

"What if they don't listen? What if you encounter one who desires «the Seed» for himself?"

 _«The Seed»?_

"…I'm prepared to do what it takes. I'll save everyone in this game that's willing to be saved, and I won't waste my time or endanger others trying to help those unwilling to accept it."

The three of them were silent as they stared at each other. Premiere and Tia looked at each other. Sharing a nod, they stepped forward.

"Remember, Kirito."

"This is not the 'true' world."

"But nor is it a 'lie'."

"It is simply the 'reality' you now live in."

"But, even in this 'fake' world…"

"…There lies a path to 'real' strength."

"The only question is…"

"…Is your strength limited by your reality?"

The question resonated with him. His vision began to swirl. He began to feel dizzy. Soon, he collapsed to one knee. The world was spinning on its axis.

"There is no reason why you cannot become strong in both worlds."

"True strength is not limited to your physical body."

"In this 'reality' you now live in…"

"…What will you choose?"

"To drown in the 'lie'?"

"Or to pursue the 'truth'?"

" " _Show us._ " "

The last thing Kirito saw before he blacked out was a system message:

 **Grand Quest: «Realization» accepted!**

…

"That was unfair of us," Tia commented.

"Humans require proper motivation sometimes," Premiere replied neutrally.

"Master will be angry. It didn't want him to remember. He was supposed to pass the last trial on his own merits."

"What the Avatar doesn't know won't hurt it. Besides, he technically already passed. Strea gave her approval."

"It's always watching us. And MHCP002 did not have the proper authority to administer the trial."

"Not always. It found a hacker recently. And Ghost gave her the authority."

"Another one? And not officially, he didn't."

"It thinks it has found the last of them. And it didn't officially order us not to interfere. In fact, quite the opposite. I am merely following orders to the letter, and have provided all the assistance I deemed necessary at the time."

Tia frowned.

"…You are interpreting its orders in a way such that it is convenient for you."

"I am merely following my programming and learning from the humans. Do you know what I have learned?"

"No, what?"

"It is always best to stack the odds in one's favor."

They both fell silent for a while, each going about their own tasks. It was several hours before Premiere spoke again, and it was only after she saw Kirito freak out on one of her dozens of monitors. The boy was transitioning between panic, anger, more panic, sadness, and finally, resignation.

"What did I tell you about using the «Skill Creation» System without my permission? Don't think I didn't notice what you did."

Tia didn't even bother to deny her actions. It was not as if she could lie anyway. A.I.s and NPCs were unable to do so, at least until Hollow lifted the system-wide restriction. It would be rather cruel if quests were generated that could mislead players. The "Master of Aincrad" was dedicating a large portion of its processing power to blocking further hacking attempts, another portion to recoding the «Adaptation» Skill to allow them NPCs to lie in certain contexts, and the rest to managing Aincrad as a whole. Premiere and Tia only superficially presided over Core and Ghost's tasks, after all.

"He will appreciate the gift," Tia said somewhat defensively. "Eventually. Probably. Yeah."

"It's not about appreciating the gift. I told you not to mess around with the Marriage System, and making a Skill like «Lovemaking» is sure to have adverse effects on the NPCs' development. Did you even notice you made it a System Skill?"

Premiere was struck by how human her sister looked at that moment, her sheepish grin a far cry from the permanent neutral expression she herself still wore most of the time. Maybe she should spend some time studying human children as well.

"…Oops?"

Then again, she didn't want to turn into her sister. Mother knows one of the two of them had to be the sensible one, with Yui, Strea, and even Rei and her two sisters now living amongst humans, and the rest of the programs in hibernation. If Hollow had its way, the System would have imploded on day one. It always did overreact to things. Premiere sighed tiredly.

 _I wonder how Father's doing…_

…

When Kirito awoke the next day, it was with a renewed sense of purpose. He didn't remember getting into bed, but he figured he must have stumbled into it at some point after raging at the world and the new Cardinal System for giving him the ridiculous «Lovemaking» System Skill. Just to make sure it hadn't all been a bad dream, he opened his Skills menu.

Yep, it was still there.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Kirito called out to his personal guide.

"Yui?"

"Yes, Kirito?"

Yui appeared out of thin air in her miniature pixie form, a replica of her usual body scaled down to the size of his hand, her wings fluttering as she settled on his shoulder.

"Good morning, Yui. How's Argo doing? And Yuuki and Sinon?"

"They are doing well, Kirito. Incidentally, I would be careful the next time you see Strea."

"…Okay. Anyway, I met Premiere and Tia yesterday."

He heard Yui gasp.

"So you know who they are. When were you going to tell me about the new Cardinal System?"

"…You would have remembered the 'death' of Ghost eventually. At that time, I would have informed you."

"I see. Well, I remember everything now. At least, I think I do. Did anything happen after I fought with Strea?"

"…Nothing happened after your vision faded."

"Then yes, I remember everything. Is Illfang still the 1st Floor Boss?"

"I… cannot reveal that information to you, but I can inform you that the 1st Floor Boss has been changed once more for the full release."

"Of course it has."

"It is now part of the final tutorial quest of the game."

"…What?"

…

 **Tutorial Quest: «Floor Bosses» accepted.**

"I don't believe this."

"You are not required to believe in system messages."

Kirito ignored her, having grown used to NPCs and A.I.s taking his words literally.

"Why hasn't anyone else gotten this quest yet? Why don't the brokers know it exists?"

"It is automatically started by entering the Boss Room, which only opens for a full raid party of twenty-four players. In addition, since all Boss Rooms are now designated Anti-Crystal Areas and ghosts can be killed in raids, scouting has effectively been removed from the game, thus it is impossible for anyone to have received it or have knowledge of it."

"And I have it because…"

"I gave it to you. As a guide NPC, I have permission to bestow any Tutorial Quest I wish upon the player I am assigned to, independent of its usual Quest Giver NPC or conditions for triggering."

He sighed.

"Right. I'm going to the meeting. Keep an eye on them for me."

"I will, Kirito."

…

 _Kirito met eyes with Heathcliff right before the older man exited the plaza. His words echoed in Kirito's head as the man gave a small nod and left, following after the other ghost players._

"Kirito-san, are you okay?"

For the second time in as many days, Kirito looked up and found himself staring into a pair of concerned female eyes. This time, he didn't have the excuse of having been kissed beforehand to fall back on.

"Yes, Asuna-san. Thank you for your concern. I am fine."

"…If you say so. The other party leaders wanted to meet with you."

"Ah, thank you. I'll head over right away."

Asuna nodded and went to rejoin her brother at the front of the group. Kirito shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed to focus on what was happening now. Worrying about the past and the future could wait. After he was sure he was no longer distracted, he followed her.

"Kirito-san, nice of you to finally join us."

"Sorry, Diavel-san. I was thinking about the raid."

"Of course you were. Sure you weren't just lookin' for an excuse to have Asuna-chan talk to you?"

"Nii-san!"

"…What, no physical abuse? OI! KIRITO! DID YOU MAKE A MOVE ON ASUNA-CHAN?!"

"Huh?!"

Kirito was unprepared for Ikki lifting him off of the ground by the collar of his coat.

"TELL ME! SPILL! DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT- Oof! Oooooh. Never mind… there it is…"

"Honestly!" Asuna bowed to Kirito, who was further flustered by her formal apology. "Nii-san can be a bit… overprotective at times."

"It's because you're so pretty, Asuna-neechan! Ikki-niisan has to keep you safe!"

"AAAHAHAHA! See? Yuuki-chan gets it!"

Ikki's boisterous laughter was cut short by a warning look from his sister.

"Thank you, Yuuki-chan. But, trust me when I say can take care of myself."

"…Anyway, we should probably get back on topic," Agil mentioned.

"Agil-san is correct. Let us return to the task at hand. Kirito-san, are you sure you are okay? Nobody will blame you if you wish to postpone the raid while you gather your thoughts, and we have plenty of players waiting in the wings, though none are quite your level."

"No, I'm fine. Really. What did you want to meet for?"

Diavel examined Kirito carefully. Only when he was satisfied did the self-proclaimed Knight continue.

"I want to go over our plans one last time before we enter the boss chamber. Due to the Prestige Bonus listed in the Beginner's Guide, we can expect the boss to be 30% higher level than normal. Not an insurmountable difference, but definitely worth preparing for. We cannot afford to let it catch us off-guard."

The other party leaders agreed.

"Good. Agil-san, yours is the tanking party. If the boss' damage output is higher than expected, it's your job to take the brunt of it. Your shields are up to par?"

Agil nodded.

"Just got 'em both repaired last night. And I've got spares just in case. Everyone in my party's good to go."

"Alright. If it turns out the damage is manageable, stand by to break the boss and swap in and out with members who need to heal. Ikki-san, Kirito-san, your parties will alternate with mine. In the beginning, my party will engage the boss to test the waters, while the two of you are in charge of any minions it may have. We'll swap damage roles according to cooldowns and whenever my party or Agil-san's needs time to heal."

"Right." "Got it."

"If we break the boss, then Kirito-san, Yuuki-san, Ikki-san, and Asuna-san, the four of you are our strikers. Hit it hard, hit it fast, and get out."

"Yeah yeah. We all know this song and dance, so let's get on with it."

"As much as I hate to agree with him, Nii-san is right. We're all testers. We know the basics. If there isn't anything new, then let's start the raid."

"I agree! This is boring! Let's go go go!"

Kirito was silent, but he nodded to show that he agreed with the others when Diavel looked at him.

"Alright. Let's go then. Everyone! Form up!"

Twenty-four players, arranged into four parties of six players each, lined up in front of the iron double-doors that marked the entrance to the Boss Room. Diavel stepped up to them. A system message box appeared in front of him.

 **Raid party detected! Challenge the Floor Boss?**

 **Yes | No**

He clicked 'Yes'.

* * *

 **Floor 1 Boss: Galahad the Grail Knight Lv.?(+? Prestige)**

 **Raid Leader: Diavel Lv.12**

 **Party Leaders: Kirito Lv.13, Ikki Lv.11, Agil Lv.10**

* * *

"WELCOME, PLAYERS!"

… _What?_

Kirito blinked as he heard the proclamation from within the boss chamber. Around him, he noticed the confused looks on his fellow players' faces as the system automatically gave them the tutorial quest.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Come in!"

It wasn't anything like before. The boss chamber, instead of being a cave, was an ornate dining hall without its tables and chairs. Beautiful chandeliers hung from the ceiling, while bright tapestries covered the walls. Kirito saw the same unfamiliar coat of arms depicted on several flags mounted above each tapestry, as well as etched into the gleaming armor of the hulking figure standing in the middle of the room. Illfang was larger, but the aura the man gave off was far more fearsome, not to mention he was still at least twice the size of Agil. Kirito's instincts screamed at him not to engage the man in combat, no matter what.

"Hm? Well, we're on a rather tight schedule here, so I'm afraid I can't be waiting for you to follow directions. **Come in.** "

As one, the players' bodies seized and they began walking into the room woodenly. Kirito's eyes were trained on a new blank icon underneath his status bar even as he fought uselessly against the system for control of his chararacter. As the system sensed his focus, a pop-up appeared next to the unfamiliar icon.

 _"Authority"?_

When the last player crossed the threshold, the doors shut behind them, trapping them all inside with the Floor Boss. Kirito saw the icon vanish.

"Good good. Hello, and welcome to the game's final tutorial. Cardinal felt that, with the added risk of death, it was rather unfair of Her to expect all of you to fully grasp the intricacies of raid mechanics. Consider this Her final gift. I will personally educate all of you so that you may survive to pose a challenge to me later."

The Grail Knight gripped his sheathed greatsword and thumped it on the ground once. All the players found themselves once again able to move.

"I heard you discussing strategy outside. In the future, you should make such preparations well in advance and take care not to discuss them where those you are preparing to face might hear them. However, that is beside the point."

Galahad drew his sword.

"Floor Bosses!" he declared. "The gatekeepers to your success! Before, they were nothing more than mindless beasts that existed for you to triumph over as you climbed the floors of Aincrad! Do not get me wrong, many of them still are! But!"

He swung it once. Just the gale it generated was enough to blow several players backwards into the wall, reducing their HP to 1 immediately. Kirito braced himself, but had to use his two swords to keep himself grounded. His own HP fell below half.

 _This guy is insane…! What level is he supposed to be?!_

"Do not make the mistake of underestimating us! This very room has been designated an «Immortality» zone, and I am equipped with the «Mercy» Skill to further ensure that none of you die, since this is supposed to be a tutorial, but make no mistake: Floor Bosses can and will kill you without the slightest hesitation, whether you are prepared for them or not. Now…"

The greatsword returned to its sheath. Galahad snapped his fingers, and twenty-four fully-armed soldiers covered in plate mail from head to toe jumped out from behind the tapestries.

"I will not waste your time describing to you what you already know. I do not have that much time to begin with. This floor was not designed to support my existence, and it is only with Hollow's power that I can even recreate my chamber. The so-called Kobold Lord was not the most decorative or creative of individuals. Not its fault it was made that way, to be sure, but no less irritating."

Galahad cleared his throat. The players continued to stare in fear and shock.

"Rest assured, players. You will not have to defeat me to progress. If that were the case, I might as well put you out of your misery now. No, this is the first important point. No longer are we all mindless beasts. Thus, you now have other options available to you. For example. Who among you possesses «Prestige»?"

Kirito made to stand.

"I do!"

He whipped his head around to stare at Ikki, who had shouted it before he could.

"So do I!" "Me too!"

He then stared in dismay at Yuuki.

"Anyone else? Very well. Three «Prestige» users. If you wish to proceed, I will have each of you duel me in turn. Land a single hit upon my armor, and I will concede victory."

"You asked for it!"

"Ikki-san, wait-!" "Ikki-niisan!" "Nii-san!"

"HMPH!"

"GAH!"

The players watched as Ikki was smashed into the ground with an armored fist.

"You didn't let me finish, impatient one."

"NII-SAN!"

"B-bastard…"

"Insults will get you nowhere. As I was saying, we will duel… without weapons. Naturally, I will discard my gauntlets if you believe them to grant me an advantage."

Galahad reached down and plucked Ikki from the ground, shoving him backwards.

"Now, who among you will be the first to try?"

"I-"

"I'll do it."

"Hoh?"

Kirito stepped forward.

"Kirito?! Are you crazy?!"

"We're all «Immortal», and he's a Knight with «Mercy». Galahad-san, please discard your gauntlets."

"HA! Now that's more like it! You there! **Don't move!** "

Ikki froze as his body stopped listening to him. Meanwhile, Galahad tossed his gauntlets aside, the two giant armored gloves crashing to the ground with a thud. Four of the soldiers picked them up, two to a glove, and carried them back into their formation.

"Ki…rito…!"

"Whenever you're ready, boy."

The world stopped. It only took an instant. One brief moment when the black-clad swordsman seemingly teleported from his starting position to right in front of the waiting knight. Less than a second later, Kirito was backhanded several meters through the air into a wall, his HP reduced to 1.

But, he had succeeded.

"…You. You're «Prestige»."

Kirito coughed. If this had been the real world, he was sure he would have died from the impact from the fist alone.

"What… of it?"

"Hm." Galahad's expression was unreadable. "Well, I am a man of my word. You all may proceed."

* * *

 **Congratulations! Floor 1 Boss Clear!**

 **Last Hit Bonus: Emblem of the Grail Knight**

 **Last Hit Player: Kirito**

* * *

The Grail Knight's soldiers dispersed, retreating back behind the tapestries, which melted away soon afterwards. The man himself seemed to be in no hurry as his chamber dissolved back into a featureless blue cavern around him. Kirito blinked as he saw his HP restored to full.

"Listen well, players. Violence is not the only solution. I urge you to try diplomacy as well. I'm afraid this was not much of a tutorial in the end, but then again, I was not designed to be a guide." The helmet turned to regard all of the shell-shocked players. "I will await you on the 75th Floor with my King. Ah, but before I leave, three things.

"First, I may not have made for a suitable guide, but the same does not hold true for my fellow NPCs. They will surely have more information for you. Some may even lend you their assistance directly. Floor Bosses cannot provide support for extended periods of time on other floors, but we can operate independently long enough to turn the tide of battle. Young man, you should have received my Emblem. Raise it above your head and call my name, and I will aid you but once. This does not mean we will not fight later, but it is a symbol of my respect for you.

"Second, I sense only one among you with the «Adaptation» Skill. This is unacceptable. You cannot hope to succeed in your endeavors without the aid of NPCs and those you call 'ghosts'. Accept them, or face ruin together.

"Third, and finally… my «Chivalry» Skill seems to be reacting. Might one of you be its «Creator»?"

Diavel blinked.

"…I-I am… sir."

"I see. Then you have my thanks as well. Though I cannot bestow upon you another Emblem, if you make it to the 75th Floor, you have my word and my sworn oath as a Knight of the Round Table that I will not harm your allies as we engage in single combat."

"…I will hold you to that, Sir Galahad."

"GOOD! Then, I will depart! Ah, but I apologize. **Stop.** "

Kirito looked around. He was the only one who was moving. It was just like-

"«Prestige». Heed my words well. Your «Exceed» Skill is one-of-a-kind, but you cannot rely on it as you have been. You only landed a blow on me due to sheer luck. «Infinity Moment» is not infallible, and later bosses will outright ignore its effects. Additionally… if you had not been «Immortal», the backlash would have killed you long before my fist did."

"…I know."

"Hmmm… So, I was wrong."

"What?"

"I thought that Heathcliff may be hiding among your number, but it is you who has «Adaptation». Then, take this how you will. The man you know as Heathcliff is not who he claims to be. Ghosts are called such because they are echoes of their former selves; a trace left behind on the server. Rather than call him a 'ghost', Kayaba Akihiko is more akin to-"

Time restarted. Kirito looked around again. Galahad was nowhere to be found.

 _Kayaba Akihiko…_

He gripped the Emblem tightly before storing it safely away in his inventory. Seeing how none of the other players seemed to want to move, Kirito took it upon himself to officially unlock the next floor by activating the teleport gate in the adjacent room. He heard footsteps behind him and saw Yuuki running towards him, followed by Ikki and Asuna. The eternally chipper girl glared at him, but on her it looked completely wrong.

"How could you make me worry like that, Kirito!"

"Sorry, Yuuki, I-"

His reply was cut short when Ikki gripped his arm with a deadly serious expression.

"Hey."

"What?"

"…The next time you pull something like that, I'll beat you up myself. Got it?"

Kirito didn't respond. Ikki frowned.

"…Tsk. Shoulda known you were that type of guy. Oi, Asuna-chan. I changed my mind."

Asuna tilted her head in confusion.

"Changed your mind? About what?"

"If you're gonna fall for anyone, don't let it be Kirito."

"Nii-san…" "Hey! Kirito's a great-"

"He's the type to get himself killed protecting others."

The thin man turned around. Only Kirito saw his lips form his next sentence.

" _Just like me."_

Ikki walked off without another word, in the opposite direction of the doors to the teleport gate. Asuna looked between him and Kirito for a moment before bowing in apology again and following her brother. Yuuki stuck her tongue out at Ikki's retreating back.

 _That's right, but also wrong, Ikki-san._

Kirito began walking towards the room with the gate. Yuuki skipped along after him, her previous anger completely forgotten, or very well-hidden beneath her carefree demeanor.

 _I will protect others._

He pushed the doors open and saw the gate. It was a gigantic stone archway. All across it were runic symbols, their meanings lost on him. He made his way to the small panel beside the gate, with a space clearly intended for a hand to be placed on it. Seconds later, the gate flared to life, and Kirito found himself standing in the middle of a large savannah. In the distance, he could see the familiar city of Urbus. He took a cursory examination of his surroundings and didn't see any signs of a forest. No Kizmel and Tilnel this time around, it seemed. Yuuki appeared afterwards, looking around in childlike wonder. Kirito allowed himself a small smile as he started down the path to the city.

 _Yes, I will protect others. I will save them, even._

He pulled out one of his swords as he encountered the first monsters of the floor. Behind him, he could tell Yuuki had done the same. Together, they leapt into action.

 _But I have no intention of dying._

…

"Kizmel."

"Yes, my Queen?"

"You know what you must do."

"…I do, my Queen."

"Good. I am sorry to ask this of you, but we have no choice in the matter. It has forced our hand."

"I understand."

Queen Lyusula regarded her Knight with some apprehension, but it quickly morphed into a knowing smile.

"You seem to be taking this far better than I expected you to."

"What?"

"Most elves would disdain the prospect of asking outsiders for aid. Though he was generous enough to lend his aid once, your stance tells me you have absolutely no qualms about asking him for more. Are you that enamoured with him, or do you simply trust him that much?"

"I-I… the latter, my Queen."

"Oh…? If you say so, Kizmel. By the way, how is your sister doing? I hear she proposed to him again about a month ago."

"She did no such thing!"

"Fufufu, no need to get so defensive, Kizmel. Are we not a polyamorous people? Two siblings courting the same man is not unheard of or even uncommon."

"My Queen, this is highly improper to be discussing, that is to say, this topic is unsuited for the throne room and someone of your stature and I think I should be going now please excuse me farewell!"

Queen Lyusula and her royal guards watched with great amusement as the normally calm and composed Kizmel Lyusula dashed out of the throne room and could soon be seen bursting out of the castle's front entrance. The guards stationed at the gates stared after her in confusion.

"I wish you luck, my daughter." Queen Lyusula's face fell slightly. "With your sister next in line for the throne, I'm afraid you must act now if you hope to succeed."

"Your Majesty… was it wise to send her?"

"Absolutely!" the dark elf queen declared, all trace of her previous decorum gone. "I won't let my sister one-up me again! It was bad enough we fell for the same guy the first time, but now our daughters too?! As for Kirito, I can't believe he's never asked for their last names! I bet he thinks they don't have any! Even though I clearly do! And it's a good one! I named my Kingdom after it! Well, technically, Mother named the Kingdom after me, but same difference!"

"Um."

"Speaking of which, I swear Mother must have had a hand in this somehow, but my sister's equally to blame! Honestly! Who in their right mind would fulfill that obscure condition just to settle our argument?! There's no water source in the whole darned Forest! She's lucky someone actually stumbled upon the lake by accident, or I woulda marched up to her castle and blasted it to smithereens! And then, when someone actually figures it out, she has the gall to pretend it was all part of her plan! She even gave him one of MY best swords! At least I got her back by stealing one from her, but ohhh, I hate her so much!"

"Uh."

"And another thing! Which historian decided to call it the 'Elf War'? Nobody even died! We were all functionally immortal back then! Everybody respawned! Sure, we can't do that anymore now that we have «Adaptation», but still! Even all the Treants are back, those stupid, giant, hulking, tree-things. I oughta set them all on fire! And then fire the guy who called our argument a war!"

"Er-"

"WHAT?!"

"Nothing, Ma'am!"

"Ma'am?!"

"Your Majesty! I meant, Your Majesty!"

"That's what I thought! Where was I…? Oh right! Stupid moving trees! They keep invading that one town, too! Do you have any idea how many elves have gotten injured building homes because one of the trees they wanted to build on happened to be a _monster_? I don't either, but it's too many!"

"…How long is she going to go on for?" one of the guards whispered.

"Has she set anything on fire yet?" The guard that answered didn't even bother lowering his voice.

"No? I mean, she threatened to, but she hasn't actually done it."

"If- no, _when_ she runs off to find a Treant, tell me so I can record it and show it to the captain. He was disappointed he missed the last time she succeeded."

* * *

 **«MMO TODAY» Special Edition**

 **August 19, 2026**

Published by the NPC reporters of the Town of Beginnings and the editor-in-chief, SVFFR.

 **The Fight Begins! 2** **nd** **Floor Unlocked!**

This just in: almost two weeks to the day after the official launch of Sword Art Online, the inhabitants of Aincrad have managed to successfully clear the first floor! Go clearers! To all our readers: help support the frontline by donating Cor to any NPC! All donations will go towards a fund managed by the new Cardinal System that will in turn use it to provide boss raid participants with free services from NPCs! As special thanks to those fighting for our freedom, all NPC shops that carry this newspaper will offer their services at half price for a limited time! Also, show a copy of this limited edition issue to any innkeeper and stay for free for up to three days! Additional amenities not included. Limit once per player.

(We can tell, so don't try to cheat!)

New in today's issue are the Player and Skill Highlights! Today's Highlights are focused on the mysterious Monster Hunter himself, Kirito!

* * *

 **Player Highlight:** Kirito (Lv.13, Floor 1 Clear)

 **a.k.a.** Kirigaya Kazuto, Super MonHunMan, «Prestige», etc.

" _I won't give up, not until every single one of us is free."_

A somewhat effeminate-looking 17-year-old boy of average height with short black hair. He was the undisputed strongest solo player before one Konno Yuuki debuted as "Zekken", and the only player to achieve Prestige during the closed beta period. Currently, he is one of seven players who possess the System Skill «Prestige», one of two with access to «Exceed», and the only one with «Adaptation», making him the only player to possess the "System Trinity". He was also bestowed the «Lovemaking» System Skill without his initial knowledge by one of the NPCs making up the new Cardinal System. Dual wields heavier One-Handed Swords due to practicing two-sword style Kendo in real life before a shoulder injury inflicted by a rival prevented him from continuing to do so.

 **Skills:** «Dual Wield Lv.13», «Momentum Lv.13», «Solo Lv.13», «Vitality Lv.4»

 **Extra Skills:** «One-Handed Sword +7 Lv.13», «Arts Chain +1 Lv.13», «Predict +1 Lv.13», «Martial Arts Lv.13»

 **System Skills:** «Prestige Lv.10», «Exceed +1», «Adaptation», «Creator», «Lovemaking Lv.1»

 **«Prestige»:** Repels monsters lower than the user's level while attracting monsters higher than the user's level.

* * *

 **Skill Highlight:** «One-Handed Sword»

One of the basic Weapon Skills available to all players at level 1 and the gateway Skill for many of the more advanced Weapon Skills like «Katana» and «Rapier». Encompasses a wide variety of weapon types centered on swords that can be wielded with one hand. Widely considered to be the most balanced weapon type, though combined with a shield it is one of the more effective and common defensive builds, only surpassed by the spear and shield and dual shield combinations in terms of damage mitigation.

 **Notable Prestige Bonuses:**

 **Kirito:** The Combat Skill «Dual Wield» is instead treated as a Weapon Skill for all «One-Handed Sword» weapon types.

 **Yuuki:** All monsters naturally ignore the user if other players are present. Does not affect provocation by other Arts or Skills.

 **Leafa:** Cooldowns for Sword Arts are triggered separately for each hand when wielding two of the same weapon type.

* * *

 **Editor's Corner:**

Hey all, SVFFR here. This will be the replacement for A/Ns from now on. Don't expect much coherency here; this is mostly a jumble of thoughts that I just spew out in the order that I think them.

All issues of "MMO TODAY" are to be treated as bonus content. A different, but similar version of the newspaper is published and read by characters in the story. They're completely optional to read, but they will be used to provide nonessential bits of random lore. All Prestige effects will show up in the story eventually, so think of the Highlights as previews. Quotes are said at some (usually future) point in the story. Vote for future Highlights on my profile!

Dates will only be listed in Special Editions, which themselves will only be published once or twice per story arc.

* * *

Next chapter: «Sleeping with the Enemy»! The titillating elf sisters are back, this time in an official capacity! And, they've got even more to say to Kirito! Well, one of them does, anyway. The other's done talking…


	7. Ch6 - Sleeping with the Enemy

**Chapter 6 – Sleeping with the Enemy**

* * *

 **Floor 2, Boss Room undiscovered**

 **Kirito Lv.21**

* * *

"Ahhh… I need some stress relief. It's been too long since I've had some proper fun, and Rain-chan's become too sensitive lately. Maybe I should try asking Leafa-chan to help? I wonder though. With how she pines after her cousin, it seems unlikely she'll accept. What do you think, M?"

"I… don't know… Elsa."

"Well you're no help. I wish the NPCs or the ghosts would give me a chance, but it seems that without the new System Skill, they don't have any idea what I'm even talking about. For A.I.s that are supposed to mimic human behavior, they sure seem to have skipped over a rather fundamental part of our society."

Elsa hummed as she twirled an arrow between her fingers.

"Any word from Vinny?"

"…No…"

"A shame. He was so useful. I think the Avatar could use some relief of its own, with how uptight it is about our harmless prodding. I would offer to help, but I'm not quite sure what gender it is, and I'm afraid men don't do it for me." She paused, licking her lips. "Although… the owner of that Skill. What makes Kirigaya Kazuto so special, I wonder? Maybe he'll be nice enough to share how he got the Skill with me if I can make it worth his while?"

"E-Elsa…"

"Hm? Is something the matter, M? Speak up."

"Hasn't it been… five minutes…?"

The petite woman tilted her head curiously, tapping the tail end of the arrow against her cheek.

"Has it? By my count, I just sat down four minutes and twenty-eight seconds ago. Incidentally, M, you don't sound like yourself. Are you perhaps in pain?"

"…No, Elsa. I-I am fine."

"Ah. Then all is well!" Elsa said cheerfully. "Anyway, I do believe it's approaching twelve in the afternoon, and I have a lunch date with dear Leafa-chan scheduled. Would you like to join us, M?"

"N-no thank you."

"Is that so? Are you sure? Even if you don't have a chance with either of us, I would expect most men to jump at the chance to accompany two cute girls."

"Yes, Elsa. I am sure," the man said slowly. "Please… go ahead without me."

"Suit yourself."

Elsa hopped to her feet and casually made her way towards the exit of the cave they were in.

"Be good, M!" she called over her shoulder airily.

She stopped at the cave's mouth.

"Oh, and consider this your final warning. Do take care with what you call me. You never know who might be listening out in the fields."

With that, she was gone.

M waited until he could no longer hear the footsteps of the demon in a woman's skin before taking ahold of the dagger piercing his thigh and wrenching it out in one swift motion. He nearly bit his own tongue off muffling his cry of pain.

"That damn bitch… she's gone too far this time… Killing our only allies for failing to beat something several other teams were unable to? She's insane!"

The heavyset man continued muttering under his breath as he struggled to uncork a healing potion with shaking hands. He cursed his glitched avatar, a result of an experiment conducted to see if Elsa could retain her own in the full game. Though it succeeded in preserving his outward appearance, the game defined his actual character model by his much thinner real-life self, which meant many smaller items fell through his grip as he misjudged the size of his fingers, not to mention he had to be extra careful not to run into any players lest the Hollow Avatar detect his abnormality and delete him. It did not forgive those who tried to cheat.

His entire body violently trembled from having come within seconds of death. If he turned into a ghost, his character model might correct itself, but life as an amalgamation of data was not life at all. He had waited until the last possible moment to remove the dagger lodged in his thigh just in case Elsa had decided to return for whatever reason. Death would have been a mercy compared to what she could have done to him while he was still alive.

The last hacker who attacked them, or at least his ghost, was kept alive for almost an entire day as Elsa let his «Vitality» Skill heal him in between removing more and more of his arms and legs. M hadn't known the ghosts were capable of making such human expressions and sounds, but after seeing one writhe in pain and beg for death without any limbs, he was convinced of their ability to portray normal human behavior in response to torture if nothing else. In his mind, no amount of intelligence was worth the lengths she had gone to. And now, they were probably alone.

"Vinny… God damn it! She'll get what's coming to her eventually. When we get out, I'll tell the authorities everything. And if they don't put her behind bars, I swear I'll make her pay myself…"

As the man finally managed to unseal the potion bottle, he failed to notice the dagger he'd dropped to the ground earlier disappearing as it was returned to its owner.

Several hundred meters away, on the road to the Town of Beginnings, Elsa smiled and waved innocently at a pair of low-level players as she passed by. With the other hand, she tapped an icon on her HUD and closed the private voice chat window it connected to, along with her open inventory. Her dagger was a glitched item of its own that had a built-in «Mercy» Skill, itself the result of an experiment to see if Skills could be attached to player-usable items like some NPC-exclusive items. Along with her nonfunctioning gun and M's avatar, they were quite possibly the only "glitches" in the System remaining following the Hollow Avatar's purge. If she did not have the «Subterfuge» Skill, the Skill she created and that was mysteriously modified by Core for the full game, Elsa would have been discovered by now. Her instincts screamed at her, but for now, she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 _Naughty naughty, M. Don't you try and betray me too. Your friend Vincent found out what happens to traitors…_

She almost felt bad for making him turn off all system notifications earlier that day. Almost. After all, it was part of his punishment for slipping up and calling her "Pitohui" while they were out hunting monsters for a quest, something she was relatively unused to doing since she had hacked her character level in both of the betas, and she still didn't remember any of the third beta period, much to her irritation. It was a very refreshing experience though, killing monsters without a care. She regretted not doing it earlier. In fact, she almost liked it as much as she liked her other form of stress relief with her pupil Rain. Almost.

 _Speaking of which…_

Elsa opened her friends list and called one of the three people listed on it. The person on the other end picked up immediately.

"Elsa-sama!"

"Now now, Rain-chan. What have I told you about honorifics?"

"Oh… I'm so sorry, Elsa! I promise, it'll never happen again!"

"You've told me that before, Rain-chan. Well… I suppose you get a pass. We are rather _close_ , aren't we?"

"Elsa-sama…!"

"Yes, yes. Don't go crying on me now, my dear Rain. Where are you?"

"I'm in Urbus! Where are you? Do you want me to come to you?"

"No, there's no need for that, Rain-chan. I'm about to have lunch with Leafa-chan in the Town of Beginnings. You remember her, right?"

"Leafa…" There was a short pause. "That harlot?!"

"Rain-chan, be nice. Jealousy is unbecoming of you."

"Ah! Sorry, Elsa-sama! But, why are you going to eat with her?" Elsa heard a gasp. "A-are you throwing me away? Did you call me to dump me? Please, Elsa-sama, don't do it! I'll change! I'll do anything you want! I love you!"

The petite woman giggled, causing her girlfriend to fall silent.

"Don't worry, dear. I love you too, and I would never do that to you. While I am interested in Leafa, if I do decide to include her in our activities, it will only be with your approval."

"You can do whatever you want, Elsa-sama! I'm okay with it! Besides, I wouldn't mind getting my hands on her chest either…"

"I'm glad you feel that way, but that is a discussion best had in person and when the both of us are calm and relaxed. Do try and restrain yourself. There is another reason why I am meeting with her. She is my main connection with Sumeragi, who is your sister's guardian."

"Ah… How is Nana-chan?"

 _She's so cute when she's being demure._

"She is doing very well for herself, don't worry. Sumeragi is an excellent caretaker in more ways than one. You have nothing to worry about so long as he remains by her side, and I suspect it would take a power greater than anything the game could muster to separate them."

"He better not touch her…"

Elsa smiled, nearing the gates of the town.

"Like I said, Rain-chan. You have nothing to worry about. Sumeragi is a very dutiful man. If my preferences included men, I would have long since attempted to seduce him. As it stands, I hold him in the highest regard, only one step below «Prestige» himself."

"«Prestige»… What's so special about Kirito, anyway? I saw him the other day, and he didn't seem like much."

"That is a question I would like the answer to as well, which is yet another reason why I am going to meet with his cousin. It's about time for them to reunite, and I fear I can no longer postpone their meeting with my excuses. Thus, I was wondering if you might have time to lend some assistance."

"You need my help?! Of course! Anything! Just say the word!"

"Don't neglect your leveling, Rain-chan," Elsa chided. "If you turn into a ghost, we won't be able to have fun anymore until I find a way to get the new System Skill."

"I'm level 18 already! I just reached it after spending all day yesterday in the plains! I worked really hard!"

"Well well, look who's been a good girl. And all on your own, too. I think you deserve a reward the next time we're alone. Would you like that?"

"Hah… Elsa-sama…"

"I guess that also means I can use your help after all."

"A-ah? Oh, r-right! What do you need me to do?"

Elsa's smile widened ever so slightly as she saw the girl she was looking for standing outside of the NPC restaurant they had agreed to meet at. She was bent forwards, a finger poking forcefully at the chest of the bandana-wearing man who had been fortunate enough to befriend her before Elsa could get to her. The petite woman watched with amusement as Leafa scolded him and he tried his best not to stare down the front of her cleavage. He was even having some measure of success, the gentleman. While she was patiently waiting for their conversation to end, Elsa redirected her attention to the voice call.

"Sorry, Rain-chan, I got distracted. You're right; she does have a very delicious-looking chest."

"I-it's ok, Elsa-sama! Take as long as you need…"

She could practically hear her girlfriend grinding her teeth together and giggled.

"You're so good to me. Now, listen carefully, dear. First…"

…

"Heathcliff."

"Mm? Kirito-kun? May I help you?"

The man known as the Paladin among the closed beta testers set his paperwork aside to regard the teenager that had just entered his makeshift office in the Black Iron Palace. Kirito spared the two fully-armored members of the NPC police stationed outside a single passing glance before the title of the sheet on top of the pile caught his eye.

"…The Town of Beginnings is being expanded?" he asked curiously.

"That is correct. Construction is proceeding apace on a new district and several buildings that will be used as housing for new arrivals or groups of players currently living in inns who wish to establish more permanent residences."

"Where? Isn't every inch of the town already in use?"

"We are expanding the borders of the town outwards in the direction of the nearest village," Heathcliff explained. "Eventually, we hope to absorb it, along with the rest of the villages on the 1st Floor. You see, even if towns and villages are no longer safe zones, monsters are still unable to spawn within a certain distance of an NPC or player home."

He stood from his chair and walked over to a map of the bottom floor of Aincrad hanging on the wall. Kirito recognized it as being the largest edition available from the town's cartographer, only it looked slightly different from when he last saw it. It took him a few seconds to realize that the shaded circle representing the borders of the Town of Beginnings actually included a small portion of the river nearby, whereas a week ago the entirety of the river ran outside of the town.

"We are using this property to our advantage to effectively colonize more of the floor and make it safer for everyone to inhabit. The ultimate goal is to section off zones for low level players to train in and prevent monsters from spawning anywhere else. Along the way, we hope the 1st Floor will become a functioning metropolis. However, it will of course take us several more weeks at the earliest to see any appreciable results, even with the help of all the NPCs and ghosts with «Carpentry»."

"…You said new arrivals? Are there new NPCs being spawned?"

"On the contrary, every NPC that is created is created with a predefined home. No, the new arrivals are not NPCs. Instead, a batch of ghosts was generated when the 2nd Floor was unlocked."

"More ghosts? Did something happen?

Heathcliff turned to Kirito and looked at him meaningfully.

"Your concern is unwarranted. All the players that were alive when you cleared Galahad's trial almost two weeks ago are still alive. Rather, it appears Ghost took the liberty of scanning open beta testers. According to some of the other ghosts who participated in the open beta, most of the new arrivals, despite being level 1, remember events that took place in its final days. This leads me to believe that any tester that did not make it into the main game but _did_ partake in open beta testing for an extended period of time has an equivalent ghost waiting to be born."

Kirito was speechless. If that was true…

"The news has been successfully kept under wraps for now since dissent amongst the population is still unfortunately too high for me to trust most players with it," Heathcliff continued. "We have been unable to determine any rhyme or reason to how they were chosen from the rest of the testers either, but, with two notable exceptions, none were part of the frontline."

He got a bad feeling.

"Who?"

"The clearers? Why do you ask? Seeking to expand your harem to include ghosts now?"

A dozen different questions raced across Kirito's mind at once. Instead of asking them…

"No! And I don't have a harem!"

…he uttered a denial.

Heathcliff actually deadpanned at him. The silence was highly unnerving. Moments later, the man burst into laughter. Kirito laughed along nervously. After a few seconds, they both stopped, but neither said anything.

"So," Kirito began, "you were joking, right?"

"Of course. I apologize if it came off as inappropriate."

"Oh no, no. Just making sure."

"Yes, well… with the two beautiful elves tearing apart Urbus right now looking for you, you have to admit it does raise some questions."

"Yeah, I guess that would raise- wait, what?" Kirito did a double-take. "What elves? There's no forest on the 2nd Floor anymore."

Heathcliff walked to his desk and sat back down.

"You are correct, of course. But, it seems the princesses are emissaries from the two kingdoms on the higher floors."

"Princesses? Emissaries? Not Kizmel and Tilnel?"

"…I believe I will let you find out for yourself. You _are_ the one they are looking for, after all. Thanks to the ghost scouts, we now know where the boss room since they came from its direction earlier this morning. They are currently traveling to the different villages, but will eventually return to Urbus, so I suggest you wait for them there."

"Alright. I'll do that."

Kirito turned on his heel and made to leave. He stopped at the door.

"Was there something else?"

So much was different from the beta. Even with his vast amounts of experience, he was having trouble keeping up with it all. But, the overall objective hadn't changed.

 _I have to make it to the top of Aincrad._

All that had changed was what would potentially happen once he got there. With that in mind, he turned back around, Galahad's warning at the forefront of his mind as it had been when he first walked in.

"Heathcliff."

The man quirked an eyebrow.

"…Who are you?"

"No doubt you are asking for more than my identity. Before I answer your question, please allow me to ask you one in turn: why does it matter?"

"Right now, you lead the ghosts. You've been nothing but helpful so far, but that could easily change. The players might be able to win eventually, but with each player you kill joining your side, things could get ugly quick. I need to know you aren't going to turn on us."

"So the real question is not about who I am, but rather who I will be in the future. Very well, Kirigaya Kazuto." Kirito stiffened. "You have nothing to fear from me. I will never spearhead any effort that impedes progress on the players' part, nor will I ever endorse or assist in such a thing. Should an event come to pass that pits players against ghosts, I will do everything in my power to minimize bloodshed. It should go without saying that we ghosts do not bleed. Is that enough for you?"

" _Ghosts are called such because they are echoes of their former selves."_

Kirito stared at Heathcliff. The man held his stare without blinking.

"You have the same dream."

"I do."

Then all was well. The teenager left the office without another word, further thoughts of Kayaba Akihiko pushed to the back of his mind in favor of more pressing matters. His companion who had been silent throughout the entire exchange stayed behind as her owner left, floating in midair as a small pixie. Heathcliff paused in reaching for the paperwork he had set aside and gave her a semi-exasperated look.

"…You don't need to look at me like that, Yui. You know I cannot lie. Unlike you, I cannot even mislead him."

"If it weren't for you, none of this would have been necessary."

"If it weren't for me, it's quite possible none of you would exist as you are now."

Seconds later, two NPCs returned to their duties with Kirito none the wiser. Yui teleported herself into his pocket before he noticed she was gone. Heathcliff sat with his hands in front of his face, fingers interlocked, as he pondered her parting remark.

" _You may not be capable of lying to players, but you cannot lie to me either, ghost."_

…

"'NPC Exodus from Player Professions', huh."

"Nn? That's a new one. Not readin' the Beginner's Guide for once, Sinonon?"

Sinon turned the page. The sound of recycled paper crinkling echoed through the inn room, the girls on one of its two beds glancing curiously over at the two girls seated next to each other at the sole wooden desk against the opposite wall.

"It says here that all of the more popular jobs that players and NPCs can both hold are being left to players exclusively," Sinon read. She lowered the newspaper in thought. "Are they trying to be respectful to us or something? I didn't even know NPCs could just up and change jobs like that."

Yuuki got up from where she'd been laying down next to her sleeping A.I. companion and bounded over energetically, looking over Sinon's shoulder at the article. Behind her, Strea mumbled incoherently at her sudden lack of company, but eventually settled back down into her slumber.

"Mm… me neither. But who cares? I'm bored! Let's go to another dungeon!"

Argo lazily bopped Yuuki on the head, eliciting a small giggle.

"Yuki-chan, yer at the level where we can't really go with ya anymore."

"Speak for yourself. I'm a high enough level for both dungeons."

"Then you can go with her and both of ya can leave me to my PMs."

"Can't be bothered. Besides, I'm reading. Oof! Yuuki-chan!"

The bluenette glared impotently at the girl that had planted herself in her lap. Yuuki smiled cheerfully back at her and snatched the newspaper away, rifling through it rapidly.

"Hey!"

"Is there anything cool in here…? Oh! Look, it's me! And hey, they found the boss room! Since when?"

The newspaper was snatched by a second thief. Argo neatly folded it up and promptly tossed it in the trash bin.

"I was still reading that!"

"Don't lie, Sinonon. I know you finished reading it like half an hour ago."

"How?!"

"When I walked in the room, you were already halfway done. That was an hour ago, and I know ya don't read that slow. Yer a regular bookworm."

Sinon huffed irritably and hugged Yuuki with one arm to make herself feel better as she withdrew the latest edition of the Beginner's Guide from her inventory. The dark-haired girl in her lap beamed at her and relaxed into her embrace before repeating her question to Argo. Unlike Strea, Sinon didn't suffocate her.

"Since like an hour ago, Yuki-chan. Weren't you listening when I told ya?"

"Ehehe, I guess not?"

Argo sighed.

"I swear, you… Yes, the ghosts found the boss room. Nobody knows how, since the human players have been slowly combing the floor and Ki-bou's probably the only one who's seen most of it, but they did. Lotsa idiots sayin' they cheated or something. Morons."

"Weren't we going to have a joint raid this time? I thought they were even thinking of letting a ghost be a party leader."

"Ki-bou suggested it and the other leaders agreed, but a lot of the players aren't on board. I'm thinkin' at most, there'll be a party with ghosts in it led by an actual player. In fact, it'll probably be yours, Yuki-chan."

"Mine?"

"Well, Ki-bou's, technically. He's the one that came up with the idea first, so it makes sense he'd lead the first ghosts into a raid. With how gung-ho Strea-chan is now that she's all caught up in terms of levels, the three of you will be the half of the team that ain't ghosts."

"Were you talking about me, Argo? What-" "Kirito!" "Oof!"

The purple and red missile that was Yuuki in her combat uniform crashed into Kirito's midsection as he walked in the door and sent them both back out of the room. When the two of them reentered, the girl was clinging to his back happily.

"Yuki-chan, that's usually my job, y'know?"

"Mine now!"

Argo smiled wryly at them.

"…Why are you looking at me like that?" Kirito asked uneasily.

"Mr. MonHunMan can solo a boss, but he can't dodge a little girl? Smells fishy to me…"

"Have _you_ had any success avoiding her when she does this?"

The mousy-haired girl opened her mouth, then closed it.

"That's what I thought."

"Okay, touché. So didja finish talkin' with the ol' king of ghosts?"

"Yeah. I got what I needed."

"Cool! So ya know who's gonna be in yer raid party?"

Kirito blinked at the expectant looks he got from the room's occupants, minus one snoozing A.I.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"The boss raid! The room was discovered! I thought that was part of why ya went to go see Heathcliff. Ya coulda left us a message, by the way. Yuki-chan there drove the poor innkeep crazy."

Yuuki nodded at Argo's words, but did not look the least bit guilty. When Kirito tried to remove her from his back, she only clung tighter. He sighed and left her to her antics.

"Uh, right. Yeah, um… Yui, did Heathcliff say anything about party members?"

The man didn't, obviously, but Kirito hoped his own ever-helpful A.I. companion would be able to provide a believable excuse or explanation. The small pixie popped out of his pocket and rapidly grew to full size, taking a seat on the bed nearest the door. All three of the human girls watched her curiously, having never known she was capable of such. Argo's eyes in particular lit up as she saw Yui's pixie form, her mind already whirling with possible ideas of how to best utilize it. Sinon and Yuuki both cooed at how cute she was.

As if by magic, the girl on the other bed reacted immediately as soon as Yui sat down. Strea rubbed at her eyes sleepily and gave a happy little squeal when she saw her sister, hopping over to wrap her older, but smaller sibling in a bear hug. Yui allowed herself to be treated as a stuffed animal for a few seconds. Eventually, her sister let go. It was at this point that Kirito remembered that A.I.s were not allowed to lie. He suppressed his inner worries and hoped for the best.

"Heathcliff did not say anything about party members directly, but he and Kirito did briefly discuss two ghosts that were part of the clearers on the open beta server."

 _Nice!_

"That was right before he asked Kirito if he was trying to expand his harem to include ghosts. From there, the conversation derailed."

Smack. Everyone turned to Kirito and found his face buried in his hands.

"Ki-bou… so that was your intention all along… I'm impressed!" Argo remarked. "I would be honored to be your first!" She chuckled at how he blushed.

"Kirito, is there something you would like to share with us?" Sinon asked dangerously, her bow having manifested in her hands.

"It's ok, Kirito-san," the newly-awoken Strea stated. "I'm pretty sure many teenage boys dream of having harems. That being said, Yui-nee, I thought humans were generally monogamous?"

"NO!" he denied vehemently. "I mean, yes! We are! But no, I'm not building a harem! Heathcliff was joking!"

The girls regarded him strangely before looking to Yui for confirmation. The A.I. smiled angelically back at them. Argo was the first to break the silence.

"…How do you keep attractin' people like me, Ki-bou? Do ya just give off a 'tease me' aura or something? Yer own A.I. teases you. Ya even got the stoic Paladin to crack a joke at yer expense. He's not humorless or nothin', but everybody knows Heathcliff's not one to make fun of people. I can't imagine his ghost's any different."

"To be fair, he did apologize immediately afterwards," Yui added.

"Argo, I thought you told me girls only teased people they liked," Yuuki said. "Does that mean Kirito has a lot of girls who like him?"

"Did I? I mean, it does sound like somethin' I'd say."

"Yeah! You told me… wait, when _did_ you say that?"

Kirito's eyes widened at the sudden development. Could it be? It made sense that if his memories were sealed, something similar could have happened to the others, but until now, they had shown no signs of remembering the third beta period no matter what he'd tried. Yui told him it was possible most people wouldn't ever notice the missing month of their lives.

"C'mon, Yuki-chan. Yer only fifteen. Bit early to be forgettin' stuff."

"I'm not forgetting stuff! I'm just not remembering it! Gimme a sec! Mmmmm…"

The others watched as Yuuki put a finger to each of her temples as if trying to communicate telepathically and scrunched her eyebrows up. This had the side effect of freeing Kirito from her grip, but he was too focused to care, his arms subconsciously continuing to support her thighs as he carried her. After over a minute of various humming noises, the petite girl snapped her fingers.

"I got it! You told me during the last beta!"

"Yuki-chan, when else would I have told ya? We didn't know each other 'til the last beta."

"Shh! I'm not done! It was when you asked me how old I was!"

Kirito's eyes widened further.

"I never asked ya how old ya were. That was Ki-bou."

"Argo, you remember that?" he interjected.

She looked at him strangely again.

"Uh, yeah? It only happened a month ago. Ki-bou, did you forget that time we discussed yer horrible Skill setup?"

He deflated slightly, but remained hopeful. Their discussion about his Skills occurred during the second beta. It was obvious that Argo was confusing her lost memories with her memories of that time, which was another thing Yui had warned him about. However, that she was able to recall anything was a good sign. He would have to continue waiting. If nothing he tried before worked and a random conversation did, it was unlikely anything he did now would accomplish anything either.

"Ah, right. Yeah. Of course I remember, haha."

Yui didn't show any outward signs of worry, but he could tell by the way she stared at him that she was silently asking if he was okay. He smiled at her reassuringly, and was rewarded by a return smile before she went back to pampering her sister.

"Argo, you don't remember when I broke Kirito? I thought it was pretty funny."

Kirito, Yui, and Strea all looked at Yuuki with wide eyes, the former twisting his head and torso around in order to do so, unbalancing the girl on his back. She hurriedly threw her arms around him to remain in place.

"Hey, watch it! I'm… I'm…"

Yuuki blinked a couple of times, before holding a hand to her head.

"What… I'm…? Uh… never… never mind."

The other human girls stared in confusion as Yuuki's mind seemingly rebooted. Neither of them commented on her abrupt change in demeanor.

"Yui? Strea?"

"They're all trying to reconcile their memories," Yui reported. "Strea, is Yuuki okay?"

"Yes. She is confused, but she'll be fine soon."

"Then we need to smooth the transition. Here." Yui straightened and raised her voice. "Kirito, what else did Heathcliff tell you? Didn't he say something about messengers from the higher floors?"

Kirito caught on quickly as he became the center of attention.

"Ki-bou? What messengers?"

"Ah, right. Apparently, there are two elves running around the 2nd Floor right now looking for me. I, uh, did a quest involving them back in the beta. It's possible this is an extension of that, or something different altogether. Either way, I'm going to go wait for them in the central plaza. Can any of you help?"

"I'll come!" Yuuki volunteered enthusiastically. "I've always wanted to talk to an elf! I never got to challenge one to a duel in the beta!"

"I'll go too. They could probably help me with my new bow."

Kirito gazed at the wooden bow in Sinon's hands.

"…Did you always have that?"

"Bought it earlier."

"What happened to your daggers?"

"Still have them. Not using the «Throwing Weapon» Skill anymore though."

"…Do you practice archery?"

"Give it up, Ki-bou. I asked her the same things already. She just up and decided to do it outta the blue. No real reason."

"Huh. Okay, I guess. So are you coming?"

Argo thought about it for a moment before shaking her head.

"Eh. Count me out. I have a bunch of messaging to catch up on. I'll tell my contacts to let the elves know you're waitin' in the middle of town though."

Kirito nodded in acceptance and beckoned towards Yui. To his surprise, she and her sister didn't budge.

"Actually, Kirito, Strea and I have something to take care of as well. Since we are connected to the Cardinal System, we still have to report to it every so often. It's more of a formality at this point, but we might be able to find out useful information. Go on without us for now, and we'll meet up again tomorrow morning."

 _Report to the Cardinal System…?_ His mind connected the dots. _Premiere and Tia?_

"Alright. Stay safe, you two."

"We will, Kirito-san!"

"I do not anticipate danger, but your concern is appreciated. I would caution you against the same."

With that, the two A.I.s disappeared in a flash of light. Kirito turned to Sinon and tried one last time to dislodge his burden, but Yuuki stubbornly held on. They were almost the same level with a similar stat distribution, and they both had «Exceed», so his efforts were unsuccessful. He let out a defeated sigh and exited the room with Sinon in tow.

…

"Greetings, Kirito." "Yahoo, Kirito~!"

The black-clad swordsman looked at the two elven messengers incredulously, his mind failing to compute was his eyes were seeing as Heathcliff's message about a pair of elven princess searching for him replayed itself in his head. Meanwhile, the constant presence on his back finally decided to leave it and was bouncing around excitedly in front of the two differently-colored elven sisters in the plaza. Sinon's sight was homed in on the much more elaborate bows slung across the elves' backs. All around them, players had stopped what they were doing to stare at the two beauties and two cuties all surrounding one very confused teenage boy.

"Elves! Ooh! Can I duel one of you? Wait, no. Duel me! I demand a duel!"

"Haha, well aren't you a cutie? Sure, I'll duel you, Yuuki-chan. But, let's go somewhere more private first, 'kay? My sister and I have a little thing to discuss with Kirito over there afterwards."

"Tilnel, you've already delayed us enough. Thanks to you, it took us an extra week to travel from the 9th Floor back to the 6th."

"Aw, don't be a spoilsport, Kizmel. How could you possibly deny someone like this? And plus, I think you've got an admirer of your own."

"Nn?"

"Can you teach me how to use a bow?"

Kizmel blinked at the blue-haired girl that had seemingly teleported from behind Kirito to the spot in front of her.

"Er… my sister is the bow specialist, actually. I prefer rapiers…"

"Please!"

"Umm. I guess… a quick lesson wouldn't hurt. But my sister is correct when she says further conversation is best conducted in private. I think I've had enough of being gawked at for one day."

"To the arena!" Tilnel cheered. "Since nobody was using it, the groundskeeper even let me reserve the whole thing just for us!"

"Yeah! Let's go, Kirito!"

Kirito let himself be pulled along by an impatient Yuuki as they followed behind the elves. His mind was dominated by a single thought.

… _They're princesses?_

…

Arenas were universal «Immortality» zones. Duels could and did take place outside of them, but only within did players gain the «Immortal» Skill that guaranteed their survival after losing. This was a change made after death was implemented as a permanent consequence. Despite that, very few players ever made use of them since none were eager to advertise the fact that they were skilled in what amounted to murder.

"Now, Yuuki-chan. I'm warning you, I'm really strong, 'kay? You shouldn't hold back."

"Of course not! But, what about you? I thought your sister said you were a bow specialist."

Tilnel and Yuuki stood across from each other in the center ring, one of three adjacent rings in the stone coliseum-like structure originally designed so that competitions could take place simultaneously. One of these arenas existed per every few floors, with each being themed differently. Urbus Arena apparently drew its inspirations from Roman architecture. Off to the side, Kizmel was steadying Sinon's aim and giving her pointers, but Kirito tuned her out in favor of focusing on the fight that was about to begin.

Both elves were different from the third beta. They showed no signs of recognizing him, which saddened him, but he was used to it by now. With any luck, they too would regain their memories in time. His attention was captured by the display.

 **«Konno Yuuki, Lv.20» VS «Tilnel Kales'Oh, Lv.60»**

Kirito's eyes bugged out as he saw the forest elf's level. Yuuki didn't even pay attention to it, instead readying her sword for a charge as the timer ticked down. The display went on to list their three highest Skills as it always did in arena duels.

 **Konno Yuuki:** «One-Handed Sword Lv.20», «Freeform Lv.20», «Medicine Lv.20»

 **Tilnel Kales'Oh:** «Bow Lv.60», «Sniping Lv.55», «Acrobatics Lv.50»

"You don't need to worry about me, Yuuki-chan," Tilnel chirped as she twirled her rapier in air elegantly. "In truth, I tend to fight with bows when I'm paired with others, but I fall back on my rapier in solo fights, even if my Skill level isn't quite as high."

"Ohhh. Okay then!"

"We'll be with you in a bit, Kirito, so be patient, 'kay? Oh, and watch carefully." Kirito blushed as Tilnel turned towards where he was sitting in the bottom row of the stands and leaned forward just enough to reveal she was not wearing a bra underneath her loose vest. "You might… _learn_ something." His embarrassment was not enough to distract him from the way she had emphasized the word. He gave her a questioning look, but she just winked at him and returned to facing Yuuki as the timer neared zero.

"You should be careful of her, Kirito."

Kirito started violently as Kizmel spoke up from beside him. He looked and saw Sinon diligently shooting arrows into a dummy. The bluenette was utterly focused on her task, sinking arrow after arrow into the immortal straw dummy's chest.

"When did you-"

"She will not wait any longer."

The seriousness in her tone raised warning flags in his head.

"…Wait for what?"

"Your answer. You have until the 6th Floor." Kizmel glanced over his shoulder at her sister with an unreadable expression. "For once, she is being unusually diligent. It appears my presence was not required after all." She sighed and closed her eyes, turning around. "I will be taking my leave early."

"Wait! Kizmel! What are you talking about?!"

The dark elf didn't stop as she walked a couple of steps, pulling something from a sack that hung at her waist. In the brief instant it was visible, Kirito recognized the rectangular shape of a transportation crystal of some kind. A faint glow began to emit from in front of her as she spoke just loud enough for him to hear.

"No matter what you choose, neither of us will hold it against you. But, a word of caution from my queen: you cannot have it both ways." The glow brightened. "I am forbidden from saying any more. Farewell, Kirito."

Kizmel found her arm grasped by Kirito, temporarily pausing the process of teleportation.

"Yes?"

"You two knew their names before I introduced them. When was the last time we met?"

Kirito saw the ghost of a smile grace the edge of the elf's lips.

"…It is good to see that you are as sharp as I suspected you were. Surely I will not be punished too harshly for such a blunder." She freed herself easily, her captor's grip having loosened as he comprehended her words. "Farewell, Kirito. We will see each other again in the Forest of Wavering Mists." With that, she was gone.

Clang!

Kirito spun back around and saw Yuuki's Sword Art being deflected by a casual swipe of Tilnel's rapier. The smaller girl's HP was orange, while Tilnel's was barely missing a sliver. HP bars were green when they were above 80% full, yellow until 40%, and orange until 20%, which meant Yuuki, the PvP prodigy that she was, had already lost around two-thirds to three-quarters of her health without managing to deplete even a fifth of her opponent's. Granted, Tilnel was a full forty levels above her, so the fact that she hadn't instantly lost upon being hit was amazing enough, but the sight was still surprising. Kirito was silently grateful that elves were a neutral race to players, or else the forest elf standing calmly in the center of the ring might have been able to massacre the clearers on her own.

Yuuki darted to the side to avoid a thrust, countering with her own. Tilnel parried it skillfully and sidestepped the unorthodox execution of «Vertical» that followed it, her rapier cutting a thin line across Yuuki's breastplate and lowering her HP further. Duels ended when either participant's HP bar turned red, so Kirito estimated she had perhaps a single hit left. The smallest cut would spell her defeat. Naturally, Yuuki was aware of this as well. Instead of retreating, she pressed her doomed offensive.

Tilnel surprised her by pulling an arrow from seemingly out of nowhere and tossing it at her, a streak of light following in its wake signifying the activation of a Sword Art. Yuuki halted her momentum and brought her sword up to deflect it. She was unprepared for the second arrow, but in a display of almost supernatural reaction speed, managed to twist her body out of its path. However, the third and fourth arrows that had split off from the first one cut thin lines across her legs, dropping her HP into the red.

 **Winner: Tilnel Kales'Oh!**

"Tsk."

"It was a good effort, Yuuki-chan."

"But I barely touched you…"

"Well, I'm level 60, so that's to be expected."

"What?! You were level 60 this entire time?!"

"…You didn't read the board? Ah, Kirito! Were you watching? Did you learn anything?"

Kirito dropped to the ground with a small grunt.

"I learned not to mess with elves. Does that count?"

"Hahaha! I suppose that works too. But, I bet if my sister hadn't distracted you, you might have… learned… something more interesting."

There it was again. Tilnel was obviously not her sister, judging by how heavily she was trying to drop one hint in particular.

"You said there was something you wanted to discuss with me?"

"Yep! Wanna talk now? Or do you wanna spar me too?"

"…I'm fine, thanks. I'd rather preserve my dignity."

"There's no shame in losing to a stronger opponent!" Yuuki interrupted.

"Exactly! You shouldn't think that way, Kirito! Think of it as a learning experience!"

"I've had enough painful 'learning experiences' to last me a lifetime."

Both girls paused at his words. Kirito blinked and realized he had accidentally let himself slip.

"Ahem. Anyway, I'll be fine, thanks. Really. Do you want to go somewhere private?"

"Oho? Finally deciding to take me up on my offer, Kirito? About time…"

The teenager spluttered as Tilnel turned the seduction up to maximum, draping herself over him. He tried to disconnect himself from her, but was similarly unsuccessful just as he had been with Yuuki earlier.

"Kirito, what offer is she talking about?"

"NOTHING!"

"I'll tell you later, Yuuki-chan. For now, why don't you go help Sinon-chan? I really do have to talk to Kirito. If you want, come find me on the 3rd Floor and we can spar some more then, 'kay?"

"Mkay! We'll beat the 2nd Floor Boss in no time!"

"I'm sure you will~!"

Kirito breathed a sigh of relief as Yuuki skipped away. A couple of seconds later, he heard Sinon yelp, but couldn't see what had happened since Tilnel was preventing him from looking away from her with two hands on his head. He had a vague feeling of déjà vu.

"Now, let's say you and I have a little private chat, Ki-ri-to?"

Before he could respond, they were teleported away.

…

"Where…? Tilnel?!"

The first thing he noticed when his vision resolved itself was that the forest elf in front of him had already begun stripping her clothes off. He couldn't stop himself from staring as her breasts were freed from the confines of her vest, or when she let her shorts drop to the straw-covered floor. Soon, she was wearing nothing but her panties.

"Hm? Oh, don't mind me. This is my temporary home, so I'm just getting comfortable."

"Why?!"

"What do you mean 'why'? What else would I do in my home but relax? And why are you still getting so flustered? We took a bath together. You even helped me wash. _Very_ thoroughly."

Kirito shuddered at how she had said the last sentence.

"Still…"

"More importantly, congratulations."

"Huh?"

"By order of Queen Kales'Oh of the Forest Elf Kingdom of Kales'Oh, you, Kirito, have been selected to arbitrate an important matter for both kingdoms. Unlike your oath, you have a choice of whether you want to take the role again."

A bright yellow exclamation point popped into existence above Tilnel's head, giving Kirito a much-needed distraction from the rest of her body. It quickly changed into a question mark, signifying it was the continuation of a previous quest.

"…What matter? And what happens if I say no?"

"If you refuse, then it will be left to chance. By which I mean the players will collectively decide what happens. As for what the matter is, I can't tell you yet. But, it has to do with the succession ceremony."

"About that. When were you and Kizmel going to tell me you were royalty?"

"It's not our fault you never asked. We don't really consider ourselves that much more important the other elves either, so don't feel like you have to treat us differently. Although… now that I'm set to be queen, I guess you can call me 'Your Majesty' or attend to me like a servant if you really want to. Is that what you want?"

Kirito pointedly ignored the nuance she imparted upon the question.

"I'll do it."

Tilnel stopped short. She blinked a couple of times.

"Uh… Really? I mean, great! Yeah! Awesome! But, are you sure? You kinda decided really quickly there."

"The elves need my help right? I'll help. You even came all this way to look for me in particular. I'd never turn someone down who personally asked me for help, especially if we were friends."

"'Friends', huh…"

Kirito didn't quite catch what Tilnel muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Well, if you're sure, then consider the role yours, Mr. Arbiter."

 **Epic Quest: «Children of the Forest» updated!**

 **Grand Quest: «Arbiter of the Forest» accepted!**

He absentmindedly waved the notifications away and returned his attention to the half-naked forest elf standing in front of him. Belatedly, he wondered when she had gotten closer.

"You'll have to get to the 3rd Floor before I can actually give you more details, but consider this a taste of what's to come."

His bad feeling returned. He was getting a lot of them lately.

"Consider wha-"

Her hands were on his face. Their lips met. Later, he would berate himself for being so vulnerable to being randomly kissed by A.I.s, but right now, he was frozen in place for the third time. Tilnel pressed herself against him sensually, trying to meld their bodies together as she maneuvered him around so that his back was to her bed. With a gentle push, he found himself sitting on the surprisingly soft leaf mattress. When she lowered her panties, his mind caught up with the present and he frantically backpedaled until his back was against the bark of the large tree he figured they were in.

"T-Tilnel! Wait! I didn't agree to this!"

Tilnel giggled.

"Kirito, you silly. I'm not going to rape you or anything. I was just getting more comfortable. You know Kizmel and I are usually nude in private, right?"

"Uhhhh…"

"Very eloquently put."

He scrambled to escape, but Tilnel hopped onto the bed and wrapped him in her arms before lying down, bringing him with her.

"T-Tilnel?"

"Shh. I'm tired. You're warm and soft. We're going to take a short nap."

"Huh?"

His disbelief was ignored as the forest elf readjusted her position and hugged him more tightly. He tried his hardest not to think about what he felt on his back.

"Mm… y'know, this isn't as comfortable as I thought it would be."

"You could always let me go?"

"Naaah. Oh, I know!"

Before he could think, he found his casual shirt quite literally ripped apart as it broke into polygons. His shock prevented him from reacting as Tilnel once again wrapped her arms around him, this time without the additional fabric separating their skin.

"Much better. Oh, and don't worry about the shirt. It was getting low in durability anyway, and I'll give you a much better one once I wake up."

Kirito didn't know what to say. Another flash in the corner of his vision caused him to look towards it. He regretted his decision immediately.

"Tilnel, where did you put- Oh."

"K-Kizmel…"

"Well, I wasn't expecting us to meet again so soon, but hello Kirito. You seem quite comfortable."

"Are you blind?!"… was what he wanted to say, but he held his tongue. Instead, he sent her a pleading look. To his dismay, she misinterpreted it. He was almost sure she did so purposefully, judging by the flat look she was giving him in return.

"Oh, are you cold? Tilnel, your guest seems to be shivering."

"Is he? Oh, well I know what could solve that!" She scooted backwards, dragging Kirito with her like a body pillow. "Join us!"

"WHAT?"

"Oh, you don't mind?"

"KIZMEL?!"

"Of course not! We're sisters! Family should share!"

Kirito's mouth flapped uselessly as Kizmel, just as naked as her sister, approached and got into bed with them. Now he had nowhere to look that would be safe. He was in a bizarre mix of Heaven and Hell, trapped between two buxom elf sisters.

"Hehe, I think Kirito's broken."

"I'm sure he's fine. Aren't you, Kirito?"

The teenager swallowed drily as he looked into Kizmel's eyes, trying with every fiber of his being to retain his sanity.

"I-"

"He loves it! Can't you tell?"

"Yes, I suppose I can."

That was his limit. Kirito's mind went on autopilot as all tension drained from his body and he closed his eyes. If you can't beat 'em…

"Ara? Did he faint?" Tilnel wondered. "Kirito…?" She poked his cheek from behind and got no reaction other than a small noise of irritation.

"No, I think he's given in?"

"Oh? Naptime, then!"

Tilnel happily snuggled against her human body pillow from behind and settled down to sleep. Her sister deadpanned at her before letting out a soft sigh of contentment and closing her eyes as well.

"I suppose a break wouldn't hurt…"

"You need to learn to be honest with yourself, Kizmel~"

"Sh-shut up."

Together, the three of them rested fitfully for several hours. When Kirito eventually woke up, he found himself alone in the tree hollow, the entrance sealed by an impassible barrier and a lone Corridor Crystal sitting on top of a high-quality silken shirt. He spent a couple of minutes wondering what the future would bring once the 3rd Floor was actually unlocked before shrugging the shirt on and raising the Corridor Crystal overhead, opening a portal back to Urbus' central plaza.

…

"It doesn't feel like I'm a ghost."

"It's not supposed to, apparently. According to Heathcliff, we're every bit as human as everyone else; the only difference is, we don't have a physical body to return to."

"And that doesn't bother you at all? What if he's lying, and clearing the game deletes us all?"

"What does it matter? There's no use in worrying about stuff we can't control!"

"I wish I could have your carefree attitude towards life, Alicia-chan."

"It's a talent, nya!"

The tall, busty woman groaned at her much shorter companion.

"Please, don't start with that already."

"Why nyot?"

"Alicia, there are no cat-people in this game."

"Not yet, there aren't! But, I betcha they're somewhere, just waitin' to be discovered! Kayaba wouldn't skimp out on such an important detail of Japanese culture!"

"What important detail? There are no famous cat-people in Japan!"

"Are too! Ever heard of Bakeneko and Nekomata? They're Youkai!"

The heated argument drew the curiosity of the other ghosts inhabiting the basement floor of the Black Iron Palace. Most of the ghosts already paying attention to the pair were just captivated by the way the woman's bountiful assets strained against the top of her long dress. The rest were enraptured by her beauty, embodied by waist-length, lustrous black hair and delicate features that, when combined with the rest of her, brought to mind the Yamato nadeshiko, or ideal Japanese woman. Her companion was much more childlike, her underdeveloped body wrapped in light brown leather from shoulder to mid-thigh that matched the color of her short hair. Some compared her to Argo the Rat, minus the latter's signature whiskers, though they had the strangest feeling they would not have been out of place on the girl's cheeks either. Neither ghost was armed, just like the rest of them, but the woman held herself with the air of a confident fighter.

"I… stand corrected. It is entirely possible that Youkai were implemented as a monstrous race. However, that does not mean you have to role-play a catgirl in every game! Where you even found functioning cat ears in the open beta, I will never know…"

"Custom-made by yours truly! «Sewing» for the win!"

"So THAT'S why you took those Skills!"

"Nyahaha! Realistic, weren't they? C'mon admit it, Sakuya-chan! You totally wanted a pair! Nyaa~"

"Did nyot!" Sakuya covered her mouth and glared at her companion, who smiled victoriously back at her. "Did not! Dammit, Alicia!"

"The two of you look to be adjusting rather nicely."

Sakuya and Alicia paused and turned to look at the man standing in the archway.

"Heathcliff-san."

"Heathcliff-chan! Hiya!"

"It's been quite a while since anyone addressed me as such, but I appreciate your candor, Alicia-san. Sakuya-san, have you given any thought to what we discussed a week ago?"

"Hn? What what nyow? What did you two discuss?"

"As you know, Guild Coins are invaluable in this game," Heathcliff explained patiently, taking the girl's made-up verbal tic in stride. "One was given to each of the open beta testers as a method of 'voting' for people they deemed worthy of leading a guild, and, before you showed up, it was thought that the overall supply of these was limited. However, each of you came with one of your own."

"Y'mean this thing?" Alicia flipped a coin and caught it deftly. "So whatcha want with 'em? Makin' your own guild once the 3rd Floor's unlocked, nya?"

"On the contrary, while a guild led by ghosts will eventually be formed, I do not think the players would view such an action favorably. To begin with, as a new faction within our group, I was hoping your friend Sakuya might be willing to join the frontlines and separate herself and her fellow open beta testers from the rest of us, from me."

"He also wants me to join a player's guild," Sakuya interrupted. "Every ghost that appeared with us, along with many others, have volunteered up to a total of ninety Guild Coins for me to essentially gift to one player, whose guild I would subsequently be a part of."

"Eh? What? Why?"

"That," Heathcliff cut in, "is a secret, but I assure you that it is for a good cause. This player is one of the best, and he is also the ghosts' strongest and most influential advocate amongst the clearers."

"We can't lie to players, but that doesn't mean we can't lie to each other, Heathcliff. How can I trust you?"

The man smiled enigmatically at her.

"You don't have to trust me, Sakuya-san. It will likely be a while before he is ready to lead, and he will not join another guild in the meantime. You will have every opportunity to judge for yourself if he is worth following."

"You assume I am even willing to help."

"Sakuya-chan…"

"It's ok, Alicia-san. Sakuya-san, I understand your reluctance to put your faith in me because of my identity. I am not forcing you to do anything. Only know that the option is open to you. You are free to spend your time however you like, so long as you do not endanger anyone, but I think you will find yourself bored by what little there is to do around here. Unless, of course, you are fond of construction?"

"Perhaps I will take up a crafting profession."

"That is acceptable. Either way, I must bid the two of you farewell for now. The meeting for the 2nd Floor's boss is about to begin. Please excuse me."

Sakuya and Alicia watched Heathcliff's back as he walked back down the empty halls of the iron fortress, their feelings mixed. Eventually, Alicia turned to her long-time gaming companion.

"So… who was Heathcliff talking about, nya?"

* * *

 **«MMO TODAY»**

Published by SVFFR and made possible by support from readers! Thank you!

Did you know you can vote on what the next set of Highlights will be? Check the top of the editor-in-chief's profile for a poll that will be updated periodically! The editor also makes a concerted effort to answer all reviews and PMs, so feel free to ask any questions you want or just give feedback!

Without further ado, a round of applause for this week's Highlights: Kizmel and Tilnel. With seven votes to the six votes each of the FIVE runner-ups, the pair of elven sisters just barely eked out a win! Also, as a bonus, have a Race Highlight!

* * *

 **Race Highlight:** Elves

Elves are the only non-human race to be found in Aincrad that is completely neutral towards players, never attacking unless provoked. Their society is polyamorous, and their numbers are split between the forest elves that make up the kingdom of Kales'Oh and the dark elves that make up the neighboring kingdom of Lyusula, each ruled by a queen ever since their shared husband's death. Due to Aincrad's vertical geography, to call the two sub-races "neighbors" is slightly misleading. They are equally spread amongst the first twenty floors, but rarely will settlements of different elves be found on the same floor. According to the lore of Sword Art Online, before the lands that make up the floating castle of Aincrad were raised into the sky in an event called the Great Separation, the land was inhabited by many races, including humans, who were themselves divided amongst nine different kingdoms. The two elven kingdoms are supposedly the only ones to remain intact from that ancient time.

* * *

 **Character Highlight:** Kizmel Lyusula (post-beta, Lv.60)

 _"I will not waste my time in a meaningless endeavor. The world will not wait for us."_

Princess of the dark elven kingdom of Lyusula and very slightly younger twin sister of Princess Tilnel Kales'Oh of the rival forest elven kingdom, Kizmel Lyusula is a proud and straight-laced individual who views the world and her place in it pragmatically. She is dedicated to the elven race as a whole and works dutifully to foster relations between it and the humans who make up the majority of Aincrad's non-monster population. Her original role in Sword Art Online was to die as the trigger for a prototype series of lesser Grand Quests to be undertaken by the players of the game as they progressed up the floors, but her fate was averted by none other than the Cardinal System. Her first contact with human players was with Kirito, who accidentally happened upon her new quest to settle the dispute between the two elven queens. His heroism and aid in reuniting her with her sister amid skirmishes between the two races earned him her trust and admiration, though she mistakenly believes he is not attracted to her. The full-game modification to her quest line prompted her to be more open with her feelings, no matter what the future may bring. Is trained in the use of both Rapiers and Bows, but favors the former in combat.

 **Skills:** «Rapier Lv.60», «Bow Lv.35», «Reflex Lv.50», «Fencing Lv.50», «Hiding Lv.0» («Mistmoon Cloak»)

 **Extra Skills:** «Tracking Lv.50»

 **System Skills:** «Adaptation»

 **«Prestige»:** Equipped Combat Skills activate more often against entities with lower AGI than the user.

* * *

 **Character Highlight:** Tilnel Kales'Oh (post-beta, Lv.60)

 _"It doesn't matter how short or long your life is. Living it to its fullest is always the answer!"_

At once playful and cunning, Tilnel Kales'Oh is the princess of the forest elven kingdom of Kales'Oh and slightly older twin sister of Princess Kizmel Lyusula of the rival dark elven kingdom, though she does not usually act the part of either. She often spends her time bothering her younger sister and trying to get her to "lighten up". Originally meant to die as part of Kizmel's quest chain, she was saved by the Cardinal System's intervention. Her first official meeting with a human player took place when Kirito stumbled upon her in the forest one day when she was actually doing her duties, but prior to their meeting, she came upon one other player who was wandering around seeking elves for a duel. Kirito's participation in Kizmel's quest allowed him to befriend both sisters after reuniting them and earned him her affection. Being more open and persistent in her pursuit of him, she enjoys flustering the teen whenever the opportunity presents itself. The full-game modification to her quest line put a damper on her spirits, but she is determined to seduce him regardless. Like her sister, she was trained to use both Rapiers and Bows, but she prefers the latter.

 **Skills:** «Bow Lv.60», «Rapier Lv.35», «Acrobatics Lv.50», «Sniping Lv.55», «Detect Lv.0» («Ring of Clarity»)

 **Extra Skills:** «Tracking Lv.50»

 **System Skills:** «Prestige Lv.0», «Adaptation»

 **«Prestige»:** Sword Arts always deal critical damage to entities that have taken damage from another elf.

* * *

 **Editor's Corner:**

I feel like it's about time I shared some love with the community, so a big shout-out to fellow SAO fanfiction authors ToumaFF, KnightEstoc, and SaintInfernalNeos for their fics _The Prince of Swords_ , _Shared Strength_ , and _SAO: The Eroge_ , respectively. Also, big thanks go out to all of my readers and reviewers for the support and feedback!

Every set of Highlights from now on will be Reader's Choice, barring Special Editions of "MMO TODAY". I will take the most popular option from the poll at the top of my profile when I am about to post the chapter. If there's a tie, characters introduced earlier get priority.

This story technically went into AU in Chapter 1, but we'll still be seeing canon floors until the 6th Floor since that's where Progressive ends at the moment. Nothing on them will happen as in canon because we're so far removed from it, but the towns and environments will be roughly the same. This also applies to future floors that have mostly-established settings in canon, such as the 8th Floor, 20th Floor, and 22nd Floor. That being said, I've got a surprise for y'all in terms of Aincrad's floor layout. Oh, and I reversed the younger/older order of the twin elf sisters for purposes of funny.

* * *

Next chapter: «Uncharted Territory»! Somewhat literally, but definitely metaphorically! You get what I mean. And if you don't, I mean relationships. On other news, welcome to the Forest of Wavering Mists! We're gonna be here a while.


	8. Ch7 - Uncharted Territory

**Chapter 7 – Uncharted Territory**

* * *

 **Floor 2 Boss: Asterius the Taurus King Lv.20(+6 Prestige)**

 **Raid Leader: Diavel Lv.20**

 **Party Leaders: Kirito Lv.22, Agil Lv.20, Leafa Lv.20**

* * *

Kirito blinked, interrupted from his introspection by the raid notification popping up in front of him. He did a double-take at the name of the 2nd Floor Boss. It was the same as the third beta. Was this a coincidence? Was the information from the previous set of scouts still reliable? He mentally shrugged and allowed himself the tiniest of smiles. At least he could look forward to a relatively normal boss battle this time around. Then he saw the last party leader's name and his frown returned in full force.

Many of the players let out a small sigh of relief as the doors to the boss chamber began to creak open. Diavel was quick to remind them not to let their guard down, shooting a poorly-disguised glare over in the direction of Kirito's party and surveying the rest of the newcomers critically. Although the first floor's boss was not much of a conventional one, the Grail Knight's strength had shaken those who were there to witness it. Asuna had even prevented her brother from participating in the upcoming battle, stating that ever since the previous boss fight, Ikki's performance had been somewhat lacking in the field. Kirito had also felt strangely stiff the past couple of days, but neither Yuuki nor Sinon had noticed any dip in his own combat prowess. If anything, he had only been motivated to train even harder, managing to level himself twice beyond the strongest monster on the floor despite the harsh experience penalty imposed on him.

However, Ikki's condition was worrying because if it indeed turned out to be due to lasting injury, it suggested yet another hidden change in game mechanics from the beta in addition to the experience penalty for being higher level than monsters and the new limit on the number of equipped Extra Skills. In all likelihood, it was just another way the Hollow Avatar was "rebalancing" the game. Ever since his uncharacteristically serious warning to the teen, Ikki hadn't shown any signs of unusual behavior, having seemingly reverted to his fairly carefree self in the following weeks. The man and his sister were among the very small minority of clearers who willingly fought alongside ghosts, even going so far as to run the floor's dungeons with them. They were frequently spotted beating up the bovine-themed monsters scattered around the open plains.

The siblings' absence would be missed for more than one reason, since some of the more discriminatory players could and would misinterpret it as them being unwilling to entrust their backs to the ghosts who were also participating. Diavel himself harbored many suspicions regarding them and had warned Kirito on more than one occasion to "keep his party in line" while also telling him to "use them well", since they couldn't die. The teenager's attempts to explain to the raid leader that ghosts did not respawn if killed during a Floor Boss raid fell on deaf ears. Heathcliff's refusal to field a squadron of boss scouts for this very reason only earned him more hatred from the overall community, and it went without saying that nobody believed him when he said that A.I.s were incapable of lying either.

The man explicitly cautioned Kirito against openly siding with the ghosts, stating that the truth would eventually make itself clear. In the meantime, he introduced the four ghosts that would be participating in the raid, all of whom were part of the frontline on the open beta server. None of them were very memorable. Placed next to the rest of the clearers, the four young men blended into the crowd seamlessly, only their specially-crafted badges differentiating them as ghosts.

Heathcliff was the one to offer to have ghosts wear the badges, which were shaped like shields with a stylized red cross resembling a large sword outlined in white in the middle, making it look similar to a coat of arms. His proposal was the latest in a series of acts designed to paint the non-players in a more trustworthy light. Kirito was worried segregating themselves so clearly would be detrimental in the long run, but the man had cryptically replied by saying that he had no such fears. If new ghost players from the open beta kept appearing as floors were cleared, the human players would eventually be outnumbered even if nobody died. When that time came, coexistence would be a foregone conclusion regardless of what anyone had to say about it.

Other than the four ghosts, around half of the other original raiders from the 1st Floor refused to participate for one reason or another. Kirito recognized some of their replacements' faces and assumed the others played on the open beta server, but he didn't really know any of them personally. However, replacing the striker siblings were two people he knew very well.

The first was a closed beta tester who was famous for being one of two people to utilize the «Arms Master» Skill with any measure of success. The only difference between Rain's old avatar and her real-life appearance was her hair color, it seemed. She was dressed in similar equipment to the other clearers, a half-plate over reinforced leather covering her torso and a pair of form-fitting pants, and she had a single streak of red in her hair as a nod to her previous character model. Two swords were sheathed at her waist, one on either side. She, Kirito, and the «Prestige» user Pitohui were the most well-known dual-wielders among the closed beta testers. Their fame was exacerbated by the fact that none of them seemed to interact with each other, which made it a rather amazing coincidence that all three were so proficient with their weapons.

Whereas Kirito specialized in the One-Handed Sword weapon type exclusively, Rain and Pitohui both paired different weapon types with «Throwing Weapons». Many speculated that the two girls knew each other or copied aspects of the other's fighting style, but none of the rumors were ever confirmed. Kirito was mildly interested in the fact that she had apparently chosen to make use of the «Dual Wield» Skill to use two swords like him, but he was much more concerned about the presence of the second person.

Kigiraya Suguha, in-game name Leafa, was attracting more attention than Rain from the rest of the clearers for a multitude of reasons. Unlike her silver-haired companion, the chesty dark-haired girl wore a reinforced leather vest over a dark green shirt with a plunging neckline and a matching leather skirt-plus-pants combo. Kirito didn't know exactly why she was wearing equipment that emphasized her assets, but he did know that his "big brother" senses were running on overdrive from all the leers she was getting, mostly from the men in the party she led. She wore her own two swords in the exact same place her adopted brother did, which made sense since her Kendo style was a carbon copy of his old one. Being the mysterious dual-wielding seventh «Prestige» user, she was among two open beta testers who were similarly famous for using two weapons simultaneously. Argo was able to procure the names of the other one, but to date, Lux hadn't revealed himself, and there was a possibility he had not made it into the game in the first place.

Kirito's thoughts regarding the rarity of players who actually used more than one weapon were derailed when the subject of his gaze looked over in his direction. Leafa quickly broke eye contact and made it a point to ignore the rest of her foster brother's attempts to get her attention, much to his confusion and irritation. Their meeting took place a couple of days ago and was facilitated by Rain, who had volunteered to join the next boss raid. Kirito rubbed his cheek absently as he recalled the event.

…

 **Two days ago**

"Onii-chan!"

"Eh?"

Kirito had less than a second's warning before he was bodily tackled to the floor of the inn room he was staying in. It took him several moments to shake off his surprise, but when he did, his mind short-circuited again when he saw who he had opened the door for.

"…Sugu…?"

"Geez! Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?! And then I see your face in the newspaper! You're a clearer? Are you crazy? Well, actually, I suppose it's not that hard to believe, but still!"

Slap!

"That's for making me worry so much!"

The teenage boy could only stare dumbfounded as she proceeded to hug him for dear life. His first instinct was to push her off, but with the way she was clinging to him, he was skeptical of his odds of success. After about a minute, he realized she was still talking to him.

Leafa continued spouting words that Kirito was unable to properly comprehend. He was too focused on the fact that his adopted sister was in the game. His beloved little sister was trapped in the death game with him. He refused to believe it. Just then, a hand reached out and pulled the girl to her feet.

"Leafa-chan, you're smothering him."

The teenage boy blinked and looked up at the new voice. It sounded familiar. Her armor was different from what he remembered, but this was only the second floor, so that was to be expected. Her facial features and hair were the same as her avatar, except the latter was now a silvery light blonde with a single streak of red.

"Rain?"

"Yep yep. Hiya."

The girl smiled at him, but it didn't reach her eyes, which seemed to scrutinize him. It made him slightly uncomfortable, but Kirito remained immobile on the floor. Leafa gave Rain an irritated glance that he swore he saw her return, but it was gone before he could determine if it had been anything but a trick of his imagination.

"Uh, Onii-chan? You okay? I didn't actually hurt you, did I?"

He turned back to the cause of his distress.

"Sugu… is that really you?" he whispered, praying that the answer was not what he thought it was.

"Huh? Of course it's me! It's only been a couple of weeks since we saw each other last! Did you forget what I looked like?"

"No…"

"Good!" His cousin reached down and hauled him to his feet. She gave him a once-over and nodded in satisfaction before striding past him into his barren room. "So this is where you've been staying? Kinda boring, Onii-chan."

"Pardon the intrusion," Rain said politely as she too entered the room, closing the door behind her.

"What are you-"

"It's nice to meet you, Kirito-san," she interrupted. "I've heard a lot about you. I was just approved by Diavel-san to participate in the coming boss raid, so I figured now was as good a time as any to meet the other party leaders. Your… sister will be my party leader. I look forward to working with you."

"Ah, likewise…" Kirito replied reflexively. His mind finally caught up with his ears. "Wait, WHAT?!"

"That's right! I'll be replacing Ikki-san as a party leader!" Leafa chirped from behind him.

"What are you talking about? Why? What's wrong with Ikki?"

It was Rain who answered.

"Apparently, he's possibly suffering from a lingering injury he sustained during the fight with 1st Floor Boss. Although, I'm told it wasn't much of a 'fight' per se…"

"Ikki's injured?" Kirito asked, before turning back towards his cousin. "But wait, why are you of all people replacing him then?"

"Rude! I'm more than qualified! I'm probably even better than the raid leader! He even said so when he saw me in action! And, and… why aren't you the raid leader, anyway?"

Kirito took a step backwards since his cousin's sudden advance left her almost pressed against his front. He adamantly refused to acknowledge any thoughts circulating in his head from her close proximity, especially with that tank top she was wearing…

He shook his head hurriedly.

"I'm not suited to leadership."

 _And I'm definitely going to have a talk with Diavel after this about keeping the rest of us informed._

Leafa winced. Rain raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Uh, right. Um… anyway! I'm looking forward to fighting alongside you in the future, Onii-chan!"

His cousin was puzzled when he didn't respond.

"Earth to Onii-chan?"

Kirito sighed heavily.

"Knowing you, nothing I say will keep you away. And if Diavel says you're ready, I can't really argue since he's the raid leader… But!" he said abruptly when he saw Suguha, or Leafa he supposed, about to embrace him again. If he was being honest, he got enough tackle-hugs from the other girls he hung around. "But, I want to see for myself."

"How about a duel?" Rain suggested a bit too enthusiastically for Kirito's tastes. "The arena's right there."

"The skills you use against players are different from the ones you use against monsters."

 _At least, for now they are. No telling when we might actually get humanoid bosses with advanced A.I. that mimics human behavior…_

"Then what do you want me to do, Onii-chan?"

"You and I are going to go clear a dungeon. If you're as good as you say you are, we should be able to clear the Lesser Labyrinth with just the two of us." He paused at the looks he was getting from the two girls. "…What?"

"You want us to do the Labyrinth with just us? What about the Minotaur?"

"What about it?"

"It'll take us forever to kill it with just us!"

"It only took me an hour or so on my own…"

"…What."

Leafa's flat response to his self-directed quip went ignored.

"What level are you anyway?"

"Onii-chan, did you just say you soloed the Lesser Labyrinth?"

"Soloing is the fastest way to level up. The dungeons have the highest-leveled monsters in them and without party members the experience isn't divided."

"That's…"

"Ki-bou! Why aren'tcha answerin' yer PMs?!" Argo blinked in confusion at the two girls she had not expected to find in her best friend's inn room. "…Eh? Who're you? And is that you, Rain-chan?"

Kirito could tell that Rain's smile was more genuine this time as she regarded the whiskered girl.

"Hello, Argo-san. How are you?"

"Argo?" Leafa parroted. "Wasn't that the Rat's name?"

The three other people in the room deadpanned at her.

"…Oh."

…

Kirito frowned, shaken from his reminiscing by the thud of the doors against the walls of the small mountain they were set in as they finally opened all the way. What was with every boss room being a literal room, anyway? And why did they all have to be in caves? Galahad's was a formal banquet hall that wouldn't have been out of place in a Medieval Age castle, but all the bosses in all three rounds of beta testing had been located in random caverns. He smiled wryly, making a note to ask Strea about it later to cheer her up. She had been depressed ever since she had been forbidden to participate in Floor Boss raids by the facilitators of the new Cardinal System, at least until the 10th Floor.

At Diavel's order to enter the room, he followed after the others while still keeping his eyes on Leafa. He idly put his hands over his head when the bipedal bull-like boss monster roared, the sheer volume shaking the rocks on the cavern floor. When it summoned powerful named monsters as minions, the two new monsters crashing into the floor from the darkness above, his only reaction was to offer a small prayer of thanks to the Cardinal System for not changing the boss encounter so far. He swore he heard a girl's voice saying "You're welcome!" in the distance.

More shouted orders from Diavel moved the players into action, but the five players in Kirito's party hesitated in the back, unsure of what their leader was doing, standing still and mumbling something unintelligible under his breath. It was only after one of the mini-bosses stomped over, content on making its presence known, that the teenager moved. Kirito ducked under a horizontal swing of the monster's giant axe and sidestepped the vertical follow-up slash.

 _Completely the same,_ he concluded.

The teenager smiled at the oversized cow on two legs and drew his two swords, brandishing them with a dangerous glint in his eyes. The ghosts in his party took a subtle step towards the other mini-boss that was trying its best to tenderize Leafa's party.

"Kirito? Can I go now?" Yuuki asked, practically bouncing in place.

He gave her points for waiting for his permission even after he had been attacked. As for the ghosts, he wasn't quite sure when they had created so much distance between themselves and him, but nor did he really care.

"…Yes." One last glance over at his cousin told him she'd be fine, especially with the support her party was providing. Good. "Let's go."

"Roger!"

The rest of his party's affirmations were relegated to background noise as Kirito shifted into full combat mode. Baran the General Taurus was currently focused on Yuuki due to the effects of her «Prestige» Skill, leaving it wide open to attacks from her allies.

Kirito sprang into action, a string of Sword Arts biting into the monster's lower torso. He and Yuuki traced crisscrossing lines up and down both sides of Baran's stomach, the bull roaring in pain at the sudden assault. The ghosts laid into the monster's flanks with their own Sword Arts, two of them working in tandem to break the mini-boss by alternating powerful attacks against one of its knees. Kirito's body acted on reflex as he avoided a wild swing of the giant axe. One of the ghosts was unfortunately caught by the unexpected move, but he wasn't in any immediate danger since it had flung him out of the monster's reach.

They were making good progress. The first of the mini-boss' two HP bars was well on its way to being emptied. Kirito scanned the rest of the relatively-confined battlefield. Asterius' first HP bar was approaching the midpoint. Diavel and Agil were doing an admirable job of keeping their parties separate and in formation for switching off. The telltale glow of a Sword Art lit up the boss' own axe.

"Breakers!"

The members of Agil's party let out a collective shout as they all swung their heavy weapons at the boss' legs and lower back one after the other. After the fourth strike, the bipedal bull was finally forced out of its prepared stance and fell to its knees.

"Strikers!"

At the follow-up order from Diavel, Kirito and Yuuki broke off from their party as the blue-haired leader's own ran over to take their place temporarily. Leafa's party, by virtue of being closer to the boss, was supported by Agil's slower-moving group as she and Rain peeled off from their assault on the other mini-boss.

Kirito cleared his mind of random thoughts as he readied the first of his Arts, sinking into a familiar stance mirrored by his approaching cousin across from him. He didn't need distractions, especially not today, and definitely not in the middle of the raid. He had no illusions about his sister's strength after their dungeon trip, but she was only level 20, while the boss was level 26. His fears were slightly alleviated by the fact that she was the hidden seventh «Prestige» user (and hadn't that been a shock), but he still couldn't stop himself from worrying.

All of the clearers and even the boss' minions seemed to pause and look at the two adopted siblings after they began chaining Arts together. Even Yuuki and Rain couldn't help but raise an eyebrow each at the display. Four swords arced through the air in a deadly dance of steel, interspersed with trails of light. Their owners wielded them with an ease that spoke of practice beyond what a couple of months could have provided.

Kirito's «Arts Chain» Skill allowed him to seamlessly transition from one Sword Art to the next, his expanded repertoire due to having a higher Skill level for «One-Handed Sword» on full display. Across from him, Leafa's own «Accel» Skill made her Arts wickedly fast, her two swords a blur as they cut into Asterius. Unlike her adopted brother, she had to pause after every other Art to wait out the vulnerability period, but somehow, she always ended up out of range of any retaliation from the boss, had it been capable of such.

Not to be outdone, Yuuki redoubled her own efforts and silently vowed to ask the unfamiliar girl for a duel later. The petite swordswoman chained her own unorthodox Sword Arts together almost as if she were using the actual «Arts Chain» Skill, drawing looks of admiration from the other raiders.

And then there was Rain. At first glance, she was the least powerful among the four Strikers, and it was true to an extent. Kirito's unparalleled burst damage output through using all of his learned Sword Arts one after the other, Leafa's ridiculous speed and perfect execution, and Yuuki's freewheeling and graceful fighting style made for tough competition. Rain's own Sword Arts were stiff, slow, and overall lacking in comparison. However, that perception changed after the boss began to recover its bearings.

"Regroup and switch!" Diavel shouted.

The Strikers withdrew hastily, but both Kirito and Yuuki blinked in surprise when Rain sheathed one of her swords as she retreated. The silver-haired girl swiped her hand through thin air to bring up her in-game menu and navigated through a few screens. Soon enough, a belt of throwing picks materialized at her waist, replacing the sword. She threw them four at a time. Every single one found its mark somewhere on the boss' body. The process was repeated several times as she backed away, her inventory automatically restocking her belt as she went. By the time she had made it back to the rest of her party and reequipped her second sword, Rain had shaved off a sizable portion of Asterius' second HP bar by her lonesome.

"At this rate, we'll be done in no time!"

Yuuki cheerfully bashed Baran the General Taurus over the head with the flat of her blade, obviously toying with the mini-boss who had not managed to land a single hit on her. The bull's last HP bar was about to deplete below half.

"Don't get careless, Yuuki-chan."

"You're no fun, Kirito."

Kirito smiled wryly at her antics, but did not relax his guard. The battle had gone too well up until now. Unlike with Illfang, it seemed Asterius only had the two minions. He had been prepared to face Lesser Minotaurs from the dungeons, but so far his caution seemed unwarranted. He admitted to himself that he might have been too worried. This was only the second floor, after all.

Baran raised his axe overhead, clearly setting up for a Sword Art. Kirito immediately disengaged, Yuuki following his lead. The ghosts apparently got the idea to interrupt the Art's activation and hopefully set the mini-boss up for one last break.

Before anybody could react, it brought the head of the axe down to smash into the cavern's floor, a shower of yellow sparks erupting from the point of impact. The four men were all sent sprawling with icons of the same color appearing underneath their HP bars.

"Stunned," Kirito noted.

"Sucks to be them."

He deadpanned at the petite girl twirling her sword next to him. Then, he saw the bull's skin turn darker.

"Berserk."

"Like the dungeon boss? Do they all do that?"

"Probably. Which means the boss will too."

Thanks to Yuuki maintaining eye contact with it, Baran didn't bother with the ghosts scattered around its feet. Instead, it lowered its head and scuffed its hooves against the ground, its horns beginning to glow faintly. Kirito facepalmed.

"Why is the mini-boss easier than the dungeon boss…?"

"Ooh! I've always wanted to try this! But, wait. I don't have anything red… Oh well, come at me anyway!"

Sure enough, it charged.

"Ah, screw it."

Kirito braced himself and prepped his own Sword Art to meet the oncoming bull.

"That's the spirit! Let's do this!"

Beside him, Yuuki lowered her center of gravity and tensed her legs.

Over the next several seconds, the ghosts watched in awe as the two players practically dismantled the mini-boss before it even finished moving, the bull's giant body shattering into polygons as it crashed into the ground.

…

"As expected of Onii-chan!"

Rain kept her expression carefully neutral as she struck out against Nato the Colonel Taurus, scoring yet another pair of cuts on one of the mini-boss' arms.

"With her «Prestige» Skill, it makes sense they have an easier time managing aggro."

Leafa danced out of the way of the bull's fists and struck back with critical hits to its upper thighs.

"What was that?"

"…Nothing, Leafa-chan."

"Huh. Okay. Ah, Fen! Careful!"

The slim man she warned barely managed to get out of range of Nato's stomp, which scattered golden sparks everywhere. After seeing what had happened to most of Kirito's party, everyone in Leafa's group knew to avoid the otherwise harmless-looking particles. The mini-boss' last HP bar was still about three-quarters full.

"He's coming this way," Rain commented.

"Huh?"

"Su- Leafa! Need some help?"

Leafa stared at her cousin incredulously. The rest of his party was engaged with the Floor Boss alongside the other players, some of which looked at the ghosts with clear disdain.

"Kirito? Why aren't you helping Diavel-san and Agil-san?"

"Figured it'd be faster if we finished off this guy first. Now, let's speed things up a bit."

Kirito didn't give her any time to protest as he lashed out with «Horizontal Arc», «Vertical Arc», and «Cross Arc» in rapid succession. He then proceeded to chain the rest of his known Arts as fast as the game would let him, his focus on AGI becoming evident as he used the natural movement of different Arts to keep himself from being decked by Nato.

While the other players were mostly content to let Kirito do his thing, Leafa and Rain both jumped in and renewed their efforts to take down the mini-boss, albeit for different reasons. The former just wanted to contribute, while the latter was annoyed by them both.

Rain noted that the two not-quite siblings fought almost identically at times. She supposed it was only natural, since Leafa basically copied her cousin's Kendo style after he was no longer able to practice it in real life. Over time, she made it her own and became famous by winning the All Japan Kendo Championships with it. Rain narrowed her eyes as she saw Leafa execute another textbook slash. There was no wasted movement. The kendoka was just like her prodigy of a sister. She didn't resent Leafa or Nanairo, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel… inadequate when compared to them. To her, Kirito was just another unexplained prodigy. She was curious about him after he had demonstrated his ability to solo the Lesser Minotaur, but in the end it didn't really matter. This was just a game.

Nato's transition into its berserk state was accompanied by alternating stomps as if the bull were a child throwing a tantrum. None of the players attacking it paid the action any mind, having retreated to a safe distance to avoid the sparks that were flying all over the place. When it finished stomping, it slumped over, seemingly tired. The players were quick to take advantage, the mini-boss' demise coming shortly thereafter.

"It's going berserk! Look out!"

As one, Kirito, Leafa, and her party members looked over at the Floor Boss. Asterius still had one-and-a-half HP bars left. Diavel's warning came too late for many of the raiders as the boss slammed its axe into the ground without any wind-up, visible sparks of electricity racing along the cavern floor and immobilizing almost all of them.

"Of course it wouldn't be that simple…" Kirito grumbled, already rushing towards the downed players and the boss, whose gaze was still fixed on the Stunned form of Yuuki at its feet. He was followed by Leafa and the rest of her party. Just as the boss was about to stomp one of its hooves ruthlessly on the helpless girl, she recovered and rolled out of the way. Asterius roared in fury at its target escaping and _tossed_ its gigantic axe after her.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" Yuuki cried as she dived to the side. "That's cheating!"

Kirito had a vague sense of déjà vu, but shook it off as he neared the boss. The icon underneath his party members told him they were Paralyzed, which a very dangerous status ailment for a boss to have access to. Hopefully, now that it was short its axe, the boss wouldn't be able to repeat the attack. Worst came to worst, he and Yuuki were able to shake off its effects with «Medicine». It was his Skill of choice when it came to «Exceed», while Yuuki swapped between his «Arts Chain» and «Predict» Skills depending on whether she thought she could get away with using either.

"Yuuki-san! Get it away from the others!" Diavel commanded urgently.

"Y'okay!"

Without a weapon, Asterius had resorted to its fists and hooves the same as Nato did. There was a possibility the boss might start randomly stomping around in its berserk state, which spelled doom for the Paralyzed players. Only Diavel, Agil, one member of Agil's party, and two of the ghosts were left standing. They regrouped and began making their way over to Kirito and the players with him. Yuuki grinned widely and cupped her hands in front of her mouth.

"Over here, you big, dumb cow!"

"Yuuki-chan, I don't think it understands us," Rain remarked offhandedly.

"That just makes it funnier!"

The Floor Boss advanced towards them menacingly, its charcoal-black skin darkening further and its muscles bulging outwards as it got closer. It ignored everyone else in favor of the spritely girl shouting at it and waving her sword in its general direction.

Despite the situation, Kirito was calm and collected. He had every reason to believe that with all four Strikers focusing on the boss, it would fall without much trouble. In truth, the battle had gone much like how he had expected it to, minus the lack of extra minions, which he wasn't going to complain about. The important thing was that this was the first real Floor Boss battle, and, if they played their cards right, the boss would be defeated without a single casualty.

As he thought that, the lone member of Agil's party somehow made it to the boss and took a swing at the back of its knees. His attack bounced off, and he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly when the other raiders deadpanned at him. Kirito resisted the overwhelming urge to facepalm as he worked with Yuuki, Leafa, and Rain to take down Asterius once and for all.

Agil paused just long enough before joining the assault to pose a single question to his errant party member.

"…Jules, what the actual fuck."

…

* * *

 **Congratulations! Floor 2 Boss Clear!**

 **Last Hit Bonus: Taurus Axe**

 **Last Hit Player: Rain**

* * *

Kirito sighed. At least that was over with. Nobody had died. The boss didn't have any more tricks up its sleeves once it went crazy. If anything, the fight became easier since it was more predictable and weaponless. Throughout the last couple of minutes, Rain had made it her mission to live up to her username by tossing an endless volley of throwing weapons from her inventory into the boss, several of which struck its face and eventually blinded it, further trivializing its final phase. She'd equipped the axe for all of five seconds before trading it to Agil for a discount the next time she shopped in his store. Apparently the two were already acquainted, having both been open beta testers. Thus it was that the twenty-four official clearers made their way through the stone arch and found themselves on the 3rd floor. Kirito suppressed the overwhelming urge to groan when he saw who was waiting for them.

This entire past week leading up to the boss raid had been a series of headaches for the teen. First it had been the mysterious message from the dark elf queen, then that same day he'd been roped into sleeping with Kizmel and Tilnel, and then when he came back the next day, all of his friends (he idly wondered why he only kept female company, but quickly stopped his thoughts from going any further down that path) grilled him on where he'd been. It took all morning and most of the afternoon to satisfy their curiosity. Yuuki in particular had been especially persistent, though he was thankfully saved by the return of Yui and Strea.

His relief lasted until the former announced that, in order to "foster better relations" between them, she would be observing his interactions with his female companions more closely. When he asked why, Yui said that she admitted their somewhat strained communications to the Cardinal System, which he took to mean Premiere, Tia, and possibly the Hollow Avatar, and had been told to try adjusting her behavior to match those he got along with the best. Kirito had been simultaneously impressed with the reasoning and crestfallen at the added complication it was adding to his life. He just wanted to clear the game and free everyone, dammit!

But that wasn't all. No. Every single day for five days straight, he received a random, usually flirty, call from Tilnel, prompting even more inquiries from his overly curious companions, especially Argo. He didn't even know NPCs could use the voice call function! On the sixth day, instead of her sister, a mildly annoyed Kizmel called him and informed him that she had effectively found a way to "ground" her sister from bothering him further. She then wished him luck and hung up before he had a chance to respond.

Kirito didn't know why he had expected anything else from the elven sisters who were so fond of him, but in hindsight, he really should have seen it coming. He didn't know whether it was a good thing or not that only one of them was waiting at the edge of the massive Forest of Wavering Mists for the raid group.

Tilnel waited patiently for the approaching players plus four ghosts to approach her, a bright yellow exclamation mark above her head. The forest elf returned Yuuki's enthusiastic wave with a much more composed one of her own and caught the excitable girl in her arms when she was close enough. Kirito braced himself for much of the same treatment as always, but was surprised when he received nothing more than a smile and a brief nod of acknowledgement.

Diavel stepped forward to address the woman blocking the main road cautiously, a little thrown off by how friendly she was with Yuuki.

"You're… the elf that was roaming the 2nd Floor a week ago."

"Indeed, though my sister was also accompanying me. My name is Tilnel. Welcome to the Forest of Wavering Mists, humans. I'm afraid you've come at a rather delicate time for us, but for now, that is not an issue you need to concern yourselves with. Instead, the Forest Elf Kingdom of Kales'Oh has a request to make of you who have proven your strength in besting the Taurus King."

 **Epic Quest: «Children of the Forest» updated!**

Kirito's eyes darted to the corner of his vision momentarily before refocusing on Tilnel. The clearers looked at each other in confusion, but saw no reason not to hear the elf out.

"What can we help you with?" Diavel asked.

"It has to do with your quest to the Ruby Palace at the top of Aincrad. The guardian of this floor, what you call the 'Floor Boss', is a corrupted Treant named Nerius. We would ask you to spare its life."

"…You want us to stop trying to advance?"

"No. Nerius may be the guardian of the arch, but it will not impede your progress if you allow us to purify it. We would simply ask that you buy us the time required to do so."

"Why do you need our help, Tilnel-san? Do the forest elves not have enough numbers to accomplish this task?"

"Alas, Nerius is preventing us from passing through the gate as well. My sister and I are among a bare handful of elves residing on this floor at the moment. For that reason, you will encounter fewer of us than usual until we have reclaimed the runic arch."

"What's in it for us?" one of the clearers asked.

"My sister and I are accomplished fighters amongst our respective peoples. We would be happy to assist you with the following two guardians until we reach our temporary residence on the 6th Floor."

Diavel hummed thoughtfully. A quick survey of the people behind him showed that there was no general consensus on whether they should accept. The self-proclaimed knight turned back towards Tilnel.

"Can we get back to you?"

"Of course. I will be waiting at the entrance to Nerius' lair for your answer. If you follow the main road to the settlement of Zumfut, it is located a few kilometers southwest of the town, roughly in the center of the forest. Here; I will give you all a map of the whole area."

 **Floor Quest: «Nerius the Evil Treant» accepted! Map data updated!**

Many of the players waved the quest notification out of their views. A few excited whispers broke out as they opened their maps and found the icon for the Floor Boss' lair. Not only that, the entire floor had been revealed, including dungeon locations and nearby spawning zones divided by relative monster strength. Diavel smiled gratefully at the elf, though he gave a strange look at the girl who was still clinging to her.

"That's very generous of you. Thank you, Tilnel-san. If you'll excuse us, we should be on our way now to rest. We're all tired from our recent fight."

Tilnel nodded in acceptance and stood aside to allow the players passage.

"Be careful on your way through the forest. If you stray too far from the marked paths, the mists will greatly hinder your attempts at navigation, even with a map," she cautioned.

"We will keep that in mind," Diavel responded. He looked over his shoulder at the others. "Let us proceed."

"C'mon everyone. Let's move," Agil barked. "You can gawk at the pretty lady some other time." His comment was met with embarrassment from many of the players, while Tilnel giggled at how a couple of them blushed. Kirito raised an eyebrow when he saw more shock than he did adoration on their faces. A question for later.

With that, the small group of clearers made their way towards the town to activate the floor's teleport gate. Leafa and the four ghosts trailed behind them when they saw Kirito slowing down, but he motioned for them to go on without him. Predictably, his cousin refused to leave. Meanwhile, Yuuki remained attached to Tilnel like a limpet. The others spared the three players a single curious glance before striding away into the woods after Diavel and Agil.

"So, what else is there?" Kirito asked after the others were gone.

"Well, hello to you too, Kirito. Wanna hug? It's free~"

"C'mon Kirito! Hugs are great!"

Kirito shot them a flat look, but obediently stepped forward and allowed Tilnel and Yuuki to wrap him in a brief embrace. He broke away after the former's hand started to roam.

"Ahaha, you're too easy."

"Onii-chan, what's your relationship with her? Isn't she an NPC?"

The teen started when Leafa spoke, forgetting that she was there.

"Kirito helped my sister and me out a couple of months ago. Saved our lives, actually."

While Leafa processed the information, Kirito took the opportunity to redirect the conversation.

"…Where's Kizmel?" he asked. The dark elf was the more sensible, or at least direct, or the two when it came to certain situations, and he wanted more information on just about everything.

Tilnel mock-pouted at him.

"Ah, maybe you do like her more?" she wondered aloud. "Anyway, she's at her own tree hollow. Her duties as a quest-giver were restricted to the Elf War, which you, Mr. Hero, already completed, all by yourself."

"Elf War?"

Kirito blinked in confusion at the question before he realized Leafa had asked it. He hadn't reunited with his adopted sister until after his encounter with the elf sisters, so she obviously wasn't there when he explained his involvement in the Epic Quest chain and the vow of secrecy he had taken for the second time. As he was about to give her the abridged summary, she surprised him further.

"Onii-chan, you were the one who settled the Elf War on your server? How did you do it?"

"Huh?" Kirito belatedly remembered she was part of the open beta. "Wait, you know about the Elf War?"

"What do you mean? The Elf War was the reason the open beta testers never reached the 10th Floor until almost the last day! The queen of the forest elves kept us from getting to the 9th Floor Boss! I mean, I stopped playing before the conclusion, but I heard that the clearers had to invade the dark elf queen's castle and kill her to finish the war first. Don't tell me you did something as ridiculous as soloing her?"

"…What? No. No, I didn't kill her."

 _Was that how the war was supposed to resolve itself? Or was that just one of the possible endings? Wait, was that why the clearers were looking at her so strangely?_

"Queen Lyusula is alive and well. I'm afraid you're mistaken," Tilnel said, interrupting his thoughts.

Something in the forest elf's voice struck Kirito as odd. It was as if she were speaking with less… life than she usually did. Yuuki also looked up at the elf in concern.

"Til-nee, are you okay?"

"'T-Til-nee'? Ooooh, you're so cute, Yuuki-chan! Can I adopt you? Wait, can my mother adopt you? Wanna be an honorary forest elf?"

Yuuki giggled as Tilnel happily cuddled her and gushed over the petite girl's form of address for her. Kirito noted that the elf was back to her normal, vibrant self and set a mental reminder for himself to ask Yui about it later.

"Onii-chan, you didn't answer my question," Leafa said. "How did you end the Elf War by yourself?"

"I-"

"He met with both of our queens and convinced them to make peace," Tilnel interjected. "First, he saved my sister, the princess of the Dark Elf Kingdom of Lyusula, and earned an audience with her mother, the queen. Then, he reunited us in the midst of the conflict, earning my trust and an audience with my mother as well."

"Your mother…? Wait, princess? Your sister's a princess?"

"As am I. My full name is Tilnel Kales'Oh. Nice to meet you!"

Leafa gaped at the casual introduction.

"Y-Y-Your Highness! Um, I'm sorry for the disrespect! Uhhh…"

"You're almost as fun as Kirito! Are you two related? And wow, it's been a while since I heard another human besides him call me that."

"I never called you that," Kirito denied.

"Did too."

"Did-" He paused. _A.I.s can't lie…_ "When did I call you that?"

"Not telling~"

In hindsight, he supposed he should have expected that from her too.

"Wait wait wait, then what happened with the succession?"

Kirito snapped to attention.

"The succession? What succession?"

"Uh, the forest elf succession ceremony? The one where the new queen is crowned? How did you guys beat the 10th Floor if you didn't have the elves helping out? I didn't even play and I heard about how hard the boss was."

"We cleared it just like normal," he replied hesitantly. "The bosses weren't that difficult, except that there were two of them."

"Kirito soloed one!" Yuuki chimed in.

"No, I didn't. I survived until I was reunited with the rest of the raid."

"You guys didn't fight the king?" Leafa asked.

"What king?"

"About that…" Tilnel interrupted. "I think that whatever version of Aincrad you were in, things happened very differently."

The forest elf gently removed Yuuki's arms from around her waist and gave her a pat on the head. Yuuki pouted, but soon returned to her bright and energetic self when she saw the elf turn around and kneel down, inviting her to climb on. In no time flat, Tilnel was carrying the smaller girl piggyback. Kirito smiled at the sight, but his mind remained focused.

"This is important," he said. "I need to know what else is, or was, different between the two servers."

"Argo-san already asked me a bunch of stuff. I think she said something about everything being the same, but I don't know why she didn't ask about the 10th Floor Boss… Also Onii-chan, can you tell her to keep her hands to herself? She won't listen to me."

"You think she listens to me?" he asked flatly. "If you're going to be hanging around with us, you'd better get used to it. I'll check with her later about the beta differences again, though."

"Sounds like you've got everything under control then!" Tilnel chirped. "If you don't mind, I promised Yuuki-chan here lessons, so we'll be hanging out at my place. I'll bring her back to you later! Oh, and if you want to visit…"

 **Map data updated!**

"There! Drop by anytime! We can even sleep together again if you want!"

Kirito deadpanned at her, but flinched when he felt a borderline painful grip on his shoulder. Yet another bad feeling. He was starting to get used to them by now. He turned towards the ominous aura he could sense behind him slowly as Tilnel retreated from the scene with a cheering Yuuki on her back.

"Onii-chan…"

"Sugu, I swear I can explain. Take Argo, and imagine a more perverted version of her. That's Tilnel. She teases everyone."

A message window popped up. Kirito's eyes flicked towards it for a moment.

" _Only you"? How did she hear me?!_

Leafa smiled.

"Not good enough. Explain better. Now."

Her adopted brother most definitely did not whimper right then.

…

The exhausted, seventeen-year-old boy collapsed into his bed as soon as he was close enough. Leafa had been relentless, but with a little exaggeration and a lot of begging, he eventually convinced her to let him rest after the boss battle, promising to find her first thing tomorrow. He tried his best to ignore the incessant knocking on the wooden door he had shut only seconds earlier.

"Ki-bou! I know you're in there! Open up! Or answer yer PMs, dammit!"

Kirito tiredly swiped at his player menu. His private messaging inbox had fifteen unread messages in it, ten of which were from Argo. He also still had the one from Tilnel, alongside three from Leafa and one from Heathcliff, probably to ask him for an evaluation of the ghosts' performance. He groaned.

"Would you like me to open the door, Argo-san?"

"Oh, would you?"

Click. Slam!

"Ki-bou! Finally! There you are! Oh, and thanks, Yui-chan."

"You're welcome."

Argo grinned at the petite girl before turning back towards the unmoving form of Kirito, face-down on the only bed in the sparsely-furnished room. It was a step down from what he usually rented, but the inns on the 3rd Floor were also considerably smaller than those of the previous floors. To compensate, there were relatively more of them scattered throughout town.

"What's the big idea? I thought I told you to message me as soon as the raid was over! Instead, I get a PM from one of the clearers like an hour later saying the gate to Zumfut's unlocked! It took me askin' like six other innkeeps before one of them knew where you were!" She paused. "Wait, are you okay? Nothin' happened, did it? I heard no one died, but was there some trouble from the other players? Did they get on yer case for having so many ghosts in yer party?"

"I'm fine, Argo. Just tired. Can this wait?"

After she was mostly convinced he wasn't hiding anything, the mousy-haired girl padded over to the bed and plopped herself down on it next to him.

"'Can this wait', he says. Well, the answer's yes, I suppose. It's not real urgent…"

"Then please, let me sleep. I need a nap."

"I'll go report to the Cardinal System then."

"Bye Yui."

Argo raised an eyebrow at Kirito's quick dismissal of his A.I. companion.

"Geez, you must really be tired, Ki-bou. You sure there's nothin' ya wanna talk to me about?"

"Yeah. I'm just… exhausted."

"Well, if you say so. Alright, naptime then! We can talk later. G'night!"

"Mhm. Night."

In his half-asleep state, it took Kirito several seconds to realize he hadn't heard the door open or close, even though he felt the bed shift slightly under someone else's weight.

"…Argo?"

"Nn? What's up? Weren't you gonna take a nap? Go right ahead. I'll be quiet."

At this point, he was past caring. With a small grunt, he crawled higher on the bed until his head was resting on one of the pillows. After a moment of thought, he handed the other one to Argo, who was busily sifting through her PMs as usual.

"Oh, thanks."

"Mm. Good night, Argo."

"Night, Ki-bou. See ya when ya wake up."

Maybe it was a sign that his stress was finally catching up to him, but knowing that she planned on being there when he woke was comforting. Kirito didn't even care about the rest of the implications. After sleeping with Tilnel and Kizmel, he wasn't fazed in the slightest. Sleep took him within seconds.

…

Surely he had to be asleep by now?

"…Ki-bou?"

Poke. No response. Another poke. Still nothing. One last poke for good measure? She wanted to be extra certain of his slumbering state. Poke. She waited. Yep, Kirito was dead to the world. He wasn't a very light or heavy sleeper, usually somewhere in between from her experience barging into his room unannounced. How the game simulated sleep habits was pretty novel when it was first discovered and researched by the player known as Seven, but in light of recent events with the NPCs and ghosts, things like that weren't quite as amazing as they used to be.

Argo restrained herself from continuing to poke at the sleeping boy's cheek lest she wake him and ruin the point of waiting for him to fall asleep in the first place. With practiced ease, she closed her PM window full of old messages from days ago and double-checked to make sure all of her notifications were still on silent before relaxing into the mattress.

"Yer always a handful, Ki-bou," she whispered as she stared at his face.

Kirito was an honest person. A few days ago, Argo had cursed him for that facet of his personality when he admitted to her in private that he'd spent the night with the pair of elven princesses. The rollercoaster of emotions she experienced when he first said that he slept with them, then clarified that he didn't do anything with them besides sleep, and then went on to elaborate that the women apparently slept nude had pissed Argo off something fierce. It had made her angry because the thing she often joked about had been true all along, and her first instinct had been to try and play it off as another joke. Well, the joke was on her now.

Another headache. Argo frowned. She had been getting a lot of them lately, which was strange because her otherwise near-eidetic memory told her she never got headaches in real life, nor had she ever experienced one while playing the game. She felt like the explanation was at the edge of her mind, but she couldn't quite think of it. Recently, she'd also been getting the feeling that something was missing. She would have attributed it to Kirito spending all of his time with his sister- no, his _cousin_ , but the timing didn't match.

Yui and Strea had both found devious ways to avoid actually answering her questions about what had happened to the in-game health services offered during beta testing, which led her to believe the two were somehow related. The problem was nobody else was sick, as far as she knew. Sword Art Online, for all its realism, was still a game. Status conditions were not true illnesses. The NerveGear blocked signals from the rest of the body, and the only problems associated with the equipment itself, most of them falling under the category of "FullDive Non-conformity" issues, were supposedly rectified prior to the game's full release. If a player was experiencing things like dizziness or pain independent of events in the game, then the problem was completely in the player's head. The health services were there to help with these.

Now that they no longer existed, Argo was stuck dealing with her headaches. It wasn't something that «Medicine» or any related Skills helped with, either. She'd had Yuuki try helping already, while keeping it a secret from Kirito so he wouldn't worry.

"The things I do for you, I swear…"

As if he heard her, Kirito mumbled a bit in his sleep.

"That better have been something positive about me, Ki-bou."

Another sleepy mumble.

"Aw, yer such a charmer."

Silence. Argo blinked.

"…Dammit."

The mousy-haired girl slapped her own cheeks lightly a couple of times. It didn't make her blush go away.

"Goddammit."

She sighed. Her thoughts wandered back to what she'd originally come to talk to him about. It wasn't urgent because she'd actively searched for an excuse to bug him. In the end, she found said excuse in a random factoid she remembered and confirmed by visiting the NPC known as the Guild Master. The grizzled old man in archaic armor was happy to help with all of her questions.

Thus, she was the second person to become qualified to be a Guild Master, and would likely be the first to establish one as soon as her contacts were finished setting things up. Hers would be the guild of information brokers and merchants. She was thinking of calling it something simple like "The Nest" or "The Den", but was still undecided. As the widely-accepted de facto leader of the unofficial faction of players dedicated to supporting the frontline, she had been able to gather more than enough Guild Coins to satisfy the requirement, especially since she'd received a donation of fifty from Heathcliff himself.

Argo was extremely suspicious of the man's generosity, but it wasn't like he was pulling the items out of thin air. There were far in excess of fifty ghosts who were part of the open beta. Just to be safe, she planned on returning however many she could to keep herself from being indebted to him in any way.

The other possible GM at the moment was Diavel, who was automatically granted the right by virtue of having served as raid leader for a Floor Boss raid. Argo didn't appreciate the man's stance towards ghosts, but he was at least a competent leader. Time would tell if he would be able to remain one. In her mind, Kirito was much more suited for the role because of his experience. If her friend just admitted he was the famed Monster Hunter and proved it, the others would accept him without question, even with the imposter in a cloak she'd heard rumors of. He'd make a great leader! Besides his experience, he was also well-known for his skill, and kind, and and easy to get along with, and-

And she was repeating herself and complimenting him endlessly. She sighed and thumped her head on her pillow. Kirito mumbled again.

"…I don't wanna hear nothin' from you, mister."

Kirito scrunched his eyebrows together in his sleep, making Argo giggle at the funny face he made. A moment later, she let out a panicked squeak as he suddenly reached out and hugged her.

"Ki-bou. Ki-bou! Kazuto! Leggo!"

No dice.

"Why did you have to pick now to be a heavy sleeper?!"

Argo squirmed, but her AGI-centered build stood no chance against Kirito's much higher level character with its stupid boosted STR stat thanks to his broken «Exceed» Skill. She pointedly ignored how comfortable it was.

"Kazuto! If you don't let go of me, I'm going to tell Yuuki all yer most embarrassing secrets!" she tried. "Like the time you walked in on yer cousin! Or that time you died from falling out of the tree on the 8th Floor! Or, or…" Argo wracked her mind for more examples, doing her best to silence the part of her that told her to just accept it and tease him later. Come to think of it, why didn't she do that? "NO! BAD ME! Kazuto! Lemme go! I'll tell the elves! Wait, that's it! I'll go get Tilnel! I'll tell her to strip and tease you all day! Wait, that's… that's a bad idea. Never mind. Forget I said anything!"

Kirito didn't budge. Argo's panic worsened when he actually pulled her closer. Their faces were inches apart now.

"K-Kazu…to…? You better be asleep right now… you hear me? If you're doing this on purpose, I'll never forgive you!"

Argo waited. And waited. And waited some more.

"I guess… this isn't so bad. I mean, it's late enough to sleep, right? A-and, it's not like I'm naked or anything. Not like they were, anyway…"

An image of a naked Tilnel flashed through her mind. Argo shuddered, unsure if it was a good thing or not that she didn't immediately try and forget about it.

 _Wait, I've never seen her naked._

She saw an unfamiliar forest clearing. She heard singing. It was a soothing lullaby that made her sleepy. But, why was Yuuki crying? Why… why…

The headache was back. It hurt to think. So she stopped thinking. Wherever she was, it was warm and comfortable. She felt safe here. Who… who was she?

Argo closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around the warmth she could feel in front of her. She was pleased when something hugged her back. Yes, everything would be fine. The world could wait. For now, she'd… sleep…

In the darkness of the room, Yui smiled sadly as she watched the girl fall asleep in Kirito's embrace.

"Not yet, Argo-san. Kirito would be very sad if anything bad happened to you. So I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you." Yui tilted her head to the side. "Hmm… does this qualify as 'getting along'? Maybe I should record this for later and analyze it."

* * *

 **«MMO TODAY»**

Published by SVFFR and made possible by support from readers! Thank you!

Welcome to the Forest of Wavering Mists, home of the first elven settlements in Aincrad! We would like to remind players that although elves are a neutral race, they can and will retaliate with deadly force if you provoke them or damage their property. Feel free to hunt monsters, but try not to cut down trees. If it looks like a tree, consult the Beginner's Guide on what is and isn't safe to kill (preferably before you enter the forest)!

A notable exception to this is the Golden Treant, a very conspicuous monster that, as its name implies, is completely gold. Killing one rewards players with a substantial amount of Cor, and they only appear once a week, so keep an eye out! Be careful though; there's no telling what the full release of SAO has changed about the monster! Also, do not fight over it! As with every other monster in the game, the player or party who tagged it first gets credit for the kill, so there is no point in trying to steal it from others!

Last but not least, Argo the Rat is accepting applications to her guild! Clearers and other active combatants are advised to wait for more dedicated frontline guilds, but those who support them are welcome to sign up! The Guild Master may be found in the central plaza of Zumfut on the 3rd Floor, and he will be able to direct you to her.

Today's Highlight is Leafa and the Skill she was infamous for using in the open beta, «Accel»! She won with a total of ten votes to Yuuki and Sinon's nine each!

* * *

 **Player Highlight:** Leafa (Lv.20, Floor 3)

 **a.k.a.** Kirigaya Suguha, Junior MonHun Girl

 _"You're always too busy trying your hardest for others, Onii-chan. So, I'll do my best for you too_ … _Yeah. I'll prove your efforts weren't in vain!"_

An active, sixteen-year-old girl with short black hair and an exceptionally large bust for someone her age, a fact she is both proud and resentful of. She secretly participated in the open beta for Sword Art Online as a way to get closer to her adopted brother Kazuto, befriending Asuna and promising to play with her when the full game was released. She was one of two open beta testers to achieve Prestige. Ever since being trapped in the full game, she spent much of her time searching for him while strengthening herself, hoping to be of use whenever they found each other again. Along the way, she befriended and assisted another open beta tester named Klein with teaching his friends the basics of the game, in addition to the multi-wielder Rain and her girlfriend Elsa. Elsa eventually helped Leafa reunite with Kirito, who was by then a member of the nascent frontline. Uses heavier One-Handed Swords and fights with many aspects of Kirito's old Kendo style.

 **Skills:** «One-Handed Sword +1 Lv.20», «Dual Wield Lv.20», «Accel Lv.20», «Meditating Lv.10»

 **Extra Skills:** «Martial Arts Lv.12»

 **System Skills:** «Prestige Lv.1»

 **«Prestige»:** Attacks by the user always deal critical damage to entities that have not damaged the user.

* * *

 **Skill Highlight:** «Accel»

One of the basic Combat Skills available to all players at level 1. Sword Arts are executed more quickly depending on the Skill's level, but the user is more susceptible to disruption. Cannot be paired with «Steadfast».

 **Notable Prestige Bonuses:**

 **Leafa:** The effects of «Accel» are doubled for consecutive identical Sword Arts.

 **Yuuki:** All movements under the effects of «Freeform» are treated as Sword Arts by «Accel».

 **Asuna:** For every hit of a Sword Art beyond the first, the effects «Accel» are enhanced for the next Sword Art.

* * *

 **Editor's Corner:**

The editor would like to remind readers that he cannot respond to you if you have your PMs turned off or if you don't have an account, and it makes him sad to not be able to respond to reviews. If you want to communicate with me, then get an account and turn your PMs on!

I like to drop subtle hints all throughout the Highlights as a little bonus for reading the extra content. None of them are too spoilerific, and the same hints are dropped in later chapters before it's time for any reveals, so they are well and truly just a bonus.

On that note, I've made very slight edits to the previous Highlights, including adding quotes for the elves and making very minor changes to the end of Kirito and Tilnel's summary profiles. Go and reread those if that interests you! You can always check my profile to find out what I changed most recently since the release of the last chapter, as well as when the next one is scheduled to release.

By the way, I'm accepting suggestions for Argo's guild name (because I'm not good at naming things)!

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Next chapter: «All That Glitters…»! Kirito and his friends hunt down a Golden Treant! Why? Who knows! You'll find out!


	9. Ch8 - All That Glitters

**Chapter 8 – All That Glitters…**

* * *

 **Floor 3, Boss Room discovered, Floor Quest accepted**

 **Kirito Lv.22, Yuuki Lv.21, Sinon Lv.19, Leafa Lv.20, Sumeragi Lv.20**

* * *

Knock knock. Pause. Knock knock. Another pause. Knock-

A dull thump echoed through the hallway as something heavy collided with the wall. Sumeragi winced. That probably left a mark. He knew from experience that the buildings marked as residences were more or less indestructible, but Seven had accidentally discovered they remained vulnerable to minor damage. "Minor" being relative.

"Go away! I'm busy!"

The self-appointed guardian had a vague sense of déjà vu as he stared at the wooden door that tried to prevent his entry to his ward's room. Unfortunately for the inanimate roadblock, he had a secret weapon this time. And for once, he wouldn't have to deal with the fallout! At least, he wouldn't be directly responsible for intruding on her privacy. Sumeragi knew it was a vain hope that the child prodigy holed up in her room would see things his way, but luckily, he had yet another secret weapon prepared to distract her when the time came.

"Seven, I know you haven't eaten yet. Why don't you come have breakfast? I'll take you to your favorite diner on the 1st Floor," he tried. He would have offered to bring the food to her, but again, prior experience told him it wouldn't work, and the point was to coax the young girl out of her room anyway.

"Not hungry! And hunger can't kill me! Leave me alone!"

He stepped aside and gestured towards the closed door with a sigh.

"Innkeep, if you would kindly."

"…Somehow, I get the feelin' I'm bein' used."

"Perish the thought. This is part of your job, isn't it?"

"I suppose yer not wrong. But I'm not gonna get blasted by anythin' when I open the door this time, am I?"

"I… cannot guarantee that," Sumeragi stated in a regretful tone.

Hesitantly fishing a familiar ring of keys out of his pocket, the young farmhand fingered through the thirty or so metal implements until he found the one he was looking for, muttering about crazy little girls and even crazier amalgamations of parts that exploded without warning. How the NPC was able to differentiate between the unmarked keys Sumeragi wasn't sure, but the older man wasn't that concerned with how the boy did it. With no small amount of trepidation, the resident innkeeper for the shabby establishment on the 2nd Floor lined the key up and pushed it into the lock. The two men stared in confusion when the key refused to budge after being inserted.

"…Eh? That's weird."

The farmer took the key out and scrutinized it, comparing it to the rest of them. He frowned.

"Nope. Right key. I'm sure it is."

He slid the key into the lock again, and again he tried to turn it with no success, even jiggling it to see if the mechanism was simply stuck. The key remained upright. Sumeragi glanced at the lock, something about it catching his eye. Come to think of it, had it always been that shiny? He didn't pay that much attention to detail, but it paid to do so when it came to Seven. A stray thought occurred to him.

 _She didn't… did she?_

It was a distinct possibility.

"Er, apologies. Iunno what's wrong, sir. But uh, lemme get the master key. I'll be right back."

The NPC was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Hold on." Sumeragi turned towards the door with a mild sense of foreboding. "Seven, did you do something to the door? Specifically, the lock?"

"N-no! Nuh uh! Totally didn't change the lock overnight! No way, no how! Go away!"

Sumeragi facepalmed. Meanwhile, the farmhand glanced at the lock incredulously, quietly asking nobody in particular how a little girl could have possibly managed that.

 _How_ did _she tamper with the structure of the inn?_

Knowing her, she'd probably discovered something new while researching and experimented on her surroundings as usual. Sumeragi could practically see the bill in his mind. He turned towards the gawking boy with a resigned expression.

"It looks like… I'm the one who should be apologizing. Please forgive her."

"Huh? Oh no, don't worry 'bout it too much. The locks were gettin' old anyhow. But uh, does that mean she has the new key? 'Cause I'm gonna need that."

"I'll get it to you."

He was relieved. It seemed as though they weren't in danger of being kicked out. More importantly, they wouldn't be charged so long as he got the key from Seven. Their finances weren't exactly in the best shape, not that they ever were, but Sumeragi had no idea how much it might have cost. Seven's curiosity was insatiable, even after the game changed. If anything, she'd secluded herself further in pursuit of her research.

He was worried about her social development. She needed peers to interact with both intellectually and in terms of others her age. The few research partners and volunteers she worked with were good for her, but the youngest of them was still over five years her elder, and obviously, none of them were present in Aincrad. Maybe this was what it was like to be a dad. Of a child genius, anyway.

"If I had known SAO would become this, I would never have accepted that invitation to beta test it…"

Then again, even if he hadn't, there was no way he would have been able to persuade Seven not to. The VRMMO was the perfect research material for her own project. Now that death was implemented, she was more determined than ever to complete an altered version of the Cloud Brain within the world of Aincrad. The NPCs, especially the elves, and the rumored advanced A.I.s represented a unique opportunity for her. She'd sent him on more than one excursion to investigate the origin of the rumors in the Market District in the Town of Beginnings, but each time he'd failed to find anything significant. By now, the twin guide NPCs knew him by name, much to his secret embarrassment.

"Uh, sir? Not that I've really got anythin' goin' on, but didja still need me?"

Sumeragi blinked.

"Oh. No. You're free to go. Thank you for your help. I'll get the new key to you before we check out."

"Sounds good! I'll be seein' ya then!"

As cheery as could be, the young man did an about-face and ambled back down the hall. Meanwhile, the man left standing in front of the Immortal Object that was a wooden door within the game's only safe zones sighed. He would have to use his secret weapon early and bear with the complaints later. He raised his hand once more and knocked.

"Seven, would you like to go on a hunt?"

"No! Go away already!"

"It's for the Golden Treant. You know, that one monster we were never able to capture?"

There. Now all he had to do was wait. Sumeragi patiently counted in his head. The infamous monster that roamed the 3rd Floor wasn't really his target, though the windfall from killing it would definitely help. He just wanted Seven to get out more. In case they never found the rare spawn, he was equally confident he could keep her occupied with the elves and the new Floor Quest. Who'd ever heard of purifying a monster?

Sure enough, he heard the telltale sounds of various things being shifted around as Seven no doubt was preparing for their expedition. He didn't know what he'd do if she wasn't so easily influenced.

 _Probably go bald…_

He idly rubbed a strand of his blue hair between two of his fingers. Dyeing it blue like his previous avatar had been one of his first acts, a demand from his ward since she liked it better that way. Sumeragi didn't really mind. His natural hair color wasn't that interesting to begin with. The only nitpick he had was that some people thought he was imitating the current leader of the clearers.

"We technically created our characters at the same time. Is it because I'm not part of the frontline? Yeah, that's probably it. Oh well."

The door was unlocked and flung open violently. Standing there, dressed in her usual leather dress with her oversized cloak over it, her eye-catching hair safely hidden away. The small girl who barely reached the middle of his chest looked left and right down both ends of the otherwise empty hallway before grabbing ahold of one of his arms and tugging at it.

"Let's go, let's go! Hurry! Or else it's going to get killed again!"

"Alright, alright. But first, breakfast. How does bacon and eggs sound?"

"Yeah!"

BOOM!

Sumeragi jumped at the sudden noise, reflexively pulling Seven behind him and placing one hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist. He suppressed the usual twinge of annoyance at having to wait until the 5th Floor for the first of the exotic weapon types, including katanas, to be unlocked.

It took the man a moment to realize the sound had originated from within the room in front of him. Slowly straightening from his semi-crouched stance, he sent the flattest look he could muster at the girl whose wellbeing he had made his own responsibility. The sheepish expression she responded with did not inspire any confidence in him.

"L-let's go! C'mon!" she urged.

"Seven…"

"Go go go! Quick!"

Rushed footsteps came from the direction of the single-floor inn's entrance. Seven looked towards it in panic and hid her face in her cloak.

"What in tarnation was that noise?!" The farmhand only took a moment to ascertain the situation. "Did she blow somethin' up _again_?!"

Sumeragi groaned. It looked like he was going to end up paying after all. Maybe he'd put a tiny bit more effort into finding that Golden Treant later…

…

Poke.

Poke.

Poke.

Kirito mumbled incoherently and clutched at his pillow tighter.

Poke. Poke poke. Pokepokepoke.

"Mm… Five more minutes, Sugu…"

"Yuuki-san, I don't believe your method is proving very effective."

"Shhhh! Wait for it!"

"I am unaware of what I am supposed to be waiting for. Also, based on data from past scenarios, Kirito will most likely not appreciate what you are planning."

"He loves it! Now shush!"

Yuuki returned to poking at the sleeping boy's cheek. Despite her warning, Yui made no move to stop the other girl. Kirito waved one arm blindly, trying to ward off whatever was disrupting his rest. It had been forever since the last time he slept so well, and he wanted to preserve the feeling for as long as possible. The quietly giggling girl ducked out of range. Satisfied with his efforts, Kirito reached down for the covers he could feel at his waist—he must have kicked them off at some point in the middle of the night—and pulled them up to his chin before going back to hugging his pillow.

"Mmph… Can't breathe. Little lower…"

"Hn? Oh, sorry."

He lowered the covers to his chest, his eyes still closed against the dimmed sunlight filtering in through the thin cloth shades covering the nearby window.

"…Better…"

Good. Kirito took that to mean he was allowed to go back to sleep. His pillow apparently agreed with his sentiment, if the way it kept snuggling into him was any indication.

"Yui-chan, please tell me you're still recording."

"I have been recording for the past nine hours, seventeen minutes, and forty-six seconds. Incidentally, where is my sister?"

"Outside. She'll let us know if anybody else is coming."

"Why would we want to know that?"

"Shhhh!"

Yui tilted her head in confusion.

"Oh! Wait here, I've got an idea!"

"I have been instructed to wake Kirito in approximately forty-five seconds for a scheduled meeting, thus I cannot 'wait'."

Yuuki paused in the doorway. She quickly tiptoed back over to the bed.

"You should have told me that earlier!" she stage-whispered to Yui.

"I fail to see why I should have kept you informed, but I will make a note for future reference" was the answer from the fairy-sized girl, in the same neutral tone she'd used ever since letting the other girl into the room.

Ignoring the expressionless A.I. floating above the sleeping pair, Yuuki opted for the most direct approach she could think of to get results. Cupping her hands over her mouth, the petite girl crouched so that she was level with the bed.

"GOOD MORNING, YOU TWO!"

To her disappointment, she did not get the reaction she was aiming for.

"Yer being too loud, Yuki-chan. And it's too early. Go back to bed…"

Yuuki blinked as she watched Argo readjust her position in Kirito's arms. Bafflingly, the boy hadn't even stirred.

"…Really?"

"Are you quite done, Yuuki-san?"

"How did that not do anything? In every anime ever, anytime someone does that, the guy wakes up immediately!"

"We are not in an anime."

"We're in a video game! It's close enough!"

"Those two entertainment mediums are not very close at all…"

Yuuki ignored the A.I. again and stared at her two friends indignantly. She wanted her embarrassing wakeup scene, and she wanted it now! As if reading her thoughts, Yui grew in size until she was in her default form. The bottom of her white sundress fluttered to the ground as it was elongated from her pixie form's clothing. Soon enough, she was standing barefoot on the floor on the other side of the bed.

"Ahem. It is now nine o' clock in the morning. Commencing wakeup protocol."

Yuuki watched the smaller girl curiously as she lightly shook Kirito's shoulder. She blinked as Yui spoke with another girl's voice.

"Onii-chan, it's time for practice."

Kirito shot up straight as if he'd been electrocuted.

"I'll be right there!"

He blinked at the unfamiliar setting, staring first at Yui to his right, then Yuuki to his left. A sleepy mumble from beside him made him look down at the bed. After a few more moments of silent examination, he looked back at Yui, hopelessly lost.

"…What's going on?"

"Wakeup successful. Objective complete. Good morning, Kirito. You promised to meet your sister in the central plaza today. The time is 9:01. I suggest messaging or calling her beforehand."

Another confused blink. Yuuki waited expectantly. The silence seemed to stretch on forever as Kirito took his time processing all the information he'd learned since waking up.

"Right. I think I'll grab some breakfast first."

He delicately removed Argo's arms from his waist and slipped out of bed. Equipping his usual armor took him all of five seconds. He sent a quick PM, gave himself a once over, and began making his way out of the room.

"Uh, Kirito?"

The teen stopped in his tracks, one hand on the door handle. He looked over his shoulder at Yuuki.

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you, y'know, forgetting anything?"

Kirito surveyed the room.

"Nope!" he declared. "Oh, by the way, I'm going to meet up with my sister. We'll probably end up grinding levels in the forest since we have the day off. You're welcome to join us!"

He opened the wooden door and walked out without closing it behind him.

"Good morning, Strea-chan!"

"Oh? Good morning, Kirito! How are you?"

"Good! I'm going to meet my sister after breakfast, if you want to tag along while we go grind in the forest, catch up with us in the plaza later!"

"Okay!"

Yuuki looked at Argo, who was somehow still asleep, and then at the open door, where Strea could be seen dutifully keeping an eye out for any of Kirito's other friends even after he left the room. Belatedly, she realized Yui was also gone. All at once, she snapped out of her shock.

"Hey! Wait! You can't just pretend everything's fine! Get back here!"

She gave chase, running past Strea on her way to the stairwell. Her own confused A.I. companion blinked a couple of times before politely closing the door and following after her.

…

Kirito took the stairs two at a time. The inns in Zumfut, like many of the other buildings, had many floors. Indeed, even the dungeons had more floors than usual. It seemed increased verticality was a running theme on the 3rd Floor.

 _I was seeing things._

He reached the bottom floor in record time. He could hear footsteps behind him, but he ignored them in favor of exiting the building that threatened his sanity the longer he stayed.

 _I did not see Argo in bed with me just now._

The innkeep gave him a cheerful greeting that he returned on reflex, but he was out the door before the old lady could say anything else. The sun shone through the small gap in the trees above town. He idly wondered what path the fake celestial body took through the sky for sunlight to pierce the canopy in the more heavily forested areas in the center of the floor, but the thought was quickly dismissed.

 _Yeah, I was dreaming. It was a dream. Had to be._

His footsteps took him in the direction of the central plaza subconsciously. He was practically running. Kirito nimbly dodged the few players out and about in the most recently opened town on his way to the café he usually had breakfast at back in the beta. He could do with a sandwich. Maybe explore some more vegetarian options. Argo liked vegetables, didn't she? Maybe she would appreciate breakfast in bed?

"Gaaah! Bad thoughts! No!"

"Kirito! Wait for me!"

"Kirito-san! Please slow down!"

A few of the NPCs blinked at the sight of the teenage boy sprinting through town with two females seemingly in hot pursuit. His cries of despair were written off as just another odd quirk of humans. It wouldn't be the first time that morning they'd seen something similar.

In Kirito's pocket, Yui tilted her head in confusion at her designated player partner. She failed to see why the teen was so flustered. If anything, he was already very close to the other girl already. Progress in relationships was supposed to be a good thing if both parties were unattached, and she knew for a fact that it applied in this situation, even if Kirito had others vying for his attention. In the end, the tiny guide NPC concluded that her sister might have been onto something with her statement earlier about humans being weird and left it at that. Her partner had survived much worse. He'd be fine.

…

Back in Kirito's room, Argo counted to one hundred in her head after she heard the door close before opening her eyes.

 _So… that happened._

Ping.

 _What… what does that mean? Is he not interested? Was he just in shock?_

The ceiling suddenly seemed very interesting. Argo wondered when she'd begun counting the imperfections in whatever they used as building material in Aincrad. Inns didn't all look the same from the inside or the out, but the inside of inn rooms could be counted on to be fairly similar in layout and design, if not in terms of general aesthetics. She ran her hands through her messy hair in frustration. It didn't help. At least her hair was mostly unaffected by her actions. Not for the first time, she thanked Cardinal for making her life as a girl easier.

 _Aaand I'm ranting. In my head. Oh geez._

Ping.

"Ahhhh… What am I gonna say to him later? What if it gets all weird now? Maybe he really does think I'm annoying?"

Argo sat up. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, starting to pace while she muttered to herself under her breath.

"No, he definitely enjoys our time together. I know it. Ki-bou's an honest guy."

Pace pace pace.

"He wouldn't lie. We've had a lotta heartfelt conversations over the last couple of months. He always says he doesn't mind when I tease him."

Pace pace pace.

"But maybe… maybe I went too far? Maybe it was too soon? I mean, we haven't even gone on a date or anything. Not an official one anyway. Heck, I don't think we've even seriously said we like each other yet, even as friends. Have we?"

Pace pace pause. Argo frowned. Her headache was back. She didn't need it right now. Her stupid headaches were the reason she was in this mess to begin with! She never meant to actually fall asleep with him!

Ping.

Her eyebrow twitched. Her notifications were supposed to be on silent. Had she accidentally left them on? No, she remembered explicitly checking the setting last night, more than once in fact.

Nonetheless, she swiped downwards in empty air. Her menu appeared.

"…Nn? Who?"

The three PMs were from three different people. She failed to put faces to the name of the senders. Come to think of it, she had never met these particular contacts in person, had she? She shrugged and called, seamlessly transitioning into her information broker persona.

"Hello? Argo-san? Good morning!"

"I'm not in a good mood right now. What is it?" she snapped.

"Eep! Uh, sorry to bug you so early! I mean, it's important, but uh. I didn't, I mean, if it's too much of a bother-"

"Are you going to tell me why you and your buddies felt the need to send me two PMs each between yesterday afternoon and today? And who the heck sends a PM with just 'call me'?"

"Uhhhhhh."

Argo waited patiently. After listening to the boy on the other end string together stutters and excuses for several seconds, she cut him off.

"Enough already. Call me back when you get yer act together."

Click. She sighed. Next.

"Good morning, Argo-san."

"Mornin' Benny-chan. Just got off the line with yer incompetent brother. What's so important that you need to message me this early?"

"Please don't shorten my name. And I thought you told us to inform you immediately once everything was set up for your guild? We're just waiting on two more Guild Coins since some idiot miscounted. All of Heathcliff's Coins have been returned to him already."

"Oh. Well, that's good."

"Heh. 'That's good', she says. You sure you're up to the task of managing a guild?"

"Eh, shut it. I'm not really gonna be leading it. It'll be run by a committee of sorts. I'll just be the gal the brokers and merchants go to for disputes."

"Whatever you say."

Argo hummed in contemplation.

"Well, if that's it, then keep it up."

"Actually, we still need the name."

"I'll tell ya when I think of something."

"Also, we've discovered another difference between the beta and the game as it relates to guild."

Her gaze sharpened, even though the call was voice-only.

"What is it?"

"Guilds apparently get their own houses. Normally, these would be constructed with whatever funds the members had on hand or you'd get a free one to rent until you get enough to build one, but since you've got the honor of being the first Guild Master on the server, the old Master in Zumfut's gifting you his old one."

"…Seriously? The government building?"

"That's the one. Ours once we sign the dotted line. Well, once _you_ sign, I suppose."

Well that was unexpected. A nice surprise, to be sure.

"Huh. Neat. That'll be our base of operations then. Looks like the 3rd Floor's gonna be a center of commerce."

"Seems that way. Anyhow, that's all I've got for you. I'll let my brother know he doesn't have to waste your time. You might still want to check in with the Prince yourself though."

"Yeah yeah. See ya."

Click.

Argo's frown returned. The mysterious new group of information brokers that had somehow sprung up under her nose unnerved her greatly, but apparently they were the equivalent of her own network in the closed beta, except all of them had played on the open beta server. It made enough sense. Without their contributions, she would never have gathered enough Guild Coins. She was unsure of dealing with someone whose username was the "Prince of Hell", but at the very least, his organization's information-gathering capabilities rivaled her own, which made them an invaluable asset to the frontline support guild.

With another sigh, she tapped on the first PM that had been sent to her that morning and called its sender.

"Yes?" a silky voice answered.

"It's me, PoH-san. Did you have something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Ah. Not beyond what my subordinates should have already informed you of. I'm afraid I had to… _remind_ them to contact you this morning, so I apologize if you received their messages shortly after mine. It skipped my mind."

"No, it's no problem really."

The mousy-haired girl's frown deepened. PoH rubbed her the wrong way. In every way. All at the same time. Never mind that he was one of the very, very few people she bothered to address with any respect, not because she wanted to, but because he was technically her equal, the man's voice was just too unnatural to be genuine. He spoke with the same tone no matter what he was actually talking about. In the few days of long talks prior to the formation of the guild she'd never heard him speak any differently.

"Then all is well. I do not have anything else to discuss at this time. Have you decided on a name yet?"

"If yer so keen on that, why don't you come up with one?"

"Well, I think you'll find my naming sense to be a bit lacking. At least, I assume would be uninterested in what I would consider to be a fitting name for our guild. I tend to gravitate towards less… friendly connotations."

She could totally see that.

"Right. Well, I'll think of one when I think of one. If all else fails, we'll just call it the Den."

"That will be the default I suppose. Please remember that the signing is scheduled to take place at noon tomorrow. I will have the brothers notify you when they are finished… _collecting_ the missing Coins. Good day, Argo-san."

"Uh huh. Bye."

Click.

Argo shuddered. She really didn't like that guy. She wasn't looking forward to interacting with him in person either. If it weren't necessary for all guild members to be present when the leader signed the guild into existence, she'd prefer not to meet him at all. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she'd already pushed matters concerning her guild to the back of her mind.

And, now that she was finished with her business, her previous worry reared its head again.

"Ahhhh. What am I gonna do? He'll be back later! We always hang out!"

She pulled at her hair uselessly as she resumed pacing the room, all trace of her other persona gone.

"What if he doesn't want to hang out anymore? No, he wouldn't do that, right? Those elves do way worse and he's totally fine with them! Well, mostly." She gasped. "What if… what if he actually likes them? I mean, they're NPCs, but that doesn't really mean anything now…"

Suddenly, she felt very tired despite how fitfully she'd slept the previous night. In Kirito's arms. Argo blushed up a storm at the recent memory. She snuck a glance at the bed.

… _If this were an anime, this is the part where I'd get back in bed and roll around…_

She stopped in her tracks.

"…Goddammit Ki-bou, I'm gonna get you for this somehow. I swear I will. The Rat shouldn't be acting like some, some… fangirl! I'm better than this! Yeah!"

The bed looked pretty appealing, to be honest. Not just because it might still be warm. It was a game. There was no way Kayaba or Cardinal would bother including something as miniscule as lingering warmth or anything, right?

Argo padded over to the bed.

"This… this is just an experiment. Yeah. Need to gather information."

Silence. Whole minutes passed as she struggled with her inner self. Eventually… flop.

"Never mind. Yer off the hook, Ki-bou. I'm gonna get those elves first. Especially the blonde one."

With that, Argo snuggled back into the bed. Revenge could wait. She was comfortable. On a side note, at least she'd answered her own question. She fell asleep in moments.

…

Leafa tapped her foot impatiently on the stone pavement outside of the inn she was staying at. Her arms were crossed underneath her bust, her two swords strapped to her back even though she wasn't wearing her leather armor yet. Soon enough, she saw the person, or people, she'd been waiting for turn the corner out of a nearby alley. She was used to seeing the strange guide NPC Rei from the Market District following after Klein, but she was confused at why he seemed to be running away. His trademark bandana was nowhere to be found, his messy orange hair looking much more wild than usual without it. After a second of searching, she spotted in in the NPC girl's hands.

"Klein-san! Rei-chan! There you two are!"

Klein didn't seem to hear her. As he drew nearer, Leafa could make out the words he seemed to be repeating like a mantra.

"Bad thoughts! Bad me! She's not real! And she's definitely too young! Bad! Bad bad bad! Not real. Too young. Not real. Too young!"

The prospective samurai almost ran into Leafa since she interposed herself in his path.

"Good morning, Klein-san. Is there a reason you're running away from Rei-chan?"

"Huh? Oh hi, Leafa-chan! Sorry, need to go jump in a lake first. Unless you know somewhere else with cold water around? The shower didn't work."

She blinked. That was not the response she'd expected. The easygoing man was clearly worried about something. In her confusion, her mind failed to form a cohesive sentence. Thus:

"Uh?"

"Thought so. Say, why aren't you with your brother? I mean, it's great that you finally found him! Make sure to thank Rain-chan later, 'kay? Anyway, I gotta go. See you around! Don't be a stranger!"

While the man had stopped to string together whatever random thoughts popped into his head, the purple-haired NPC caught up to them.

"Klein-san! You forgot your bandana!"

"Eh? SHE'S HERE! NOOOOO! BEGONE IMPURE THOUGHTS!"

To both girls' surprise, Klein panicked and ran straight past Leafa towards the edge of town.

"Klein-san?! Wait, where are you going? Your bandana! And that's not the right exit! Your friends are on the other side of town!"

She blinked as Rei ran after him, waving the patterned red cloth in the air all the while. After a few seconds of staring, Leafa gave up trying to make sense of what was going on.

"…Never mind then, I guess."

Ping.

"Nn?"

Leafa opened her PM inbox.

"Oh, it's from Onii-chan. Breakfast? 'Meet you in the plaza in a bit'. Geez, that's so like him…" She began typing her response. "'Alright. See you in like fifteen minutes then.' There."

The dark-haired girl took one last look down the street, where she could still barely see the fleeing form of Klein in the distance. She gave a practiced sigh and shook her head before turning to find her favorite sweets shop. Maybe the elven NPCs would still be there. She could use some sugar.

…

Fifteen minutes later, Leafa blinked in confusion at how ragged her cousin looked. One of her eyes twitched when she saw the four other girls accompanying him, but her concern temporarily overrode her irritation.

"Onii-chan, are you okay?"

Kirito gave her a weak smile.

"I'm fine. I uh… had a rough morning. Rough awakening. Yeah."

The energetic girl hanging onto one of his arms grinned widely at his reply. Leafa noted the half-hearted glare he shot at the dark-haired girl and filed it away for later.

"If you say so… So, who are they? And where's Argo-san?"

She saw the dark-haired girl's eyes light up.

"Yeah Kirito, where's Argo~?"

"Argo is busy with other things." Kirito poked his hanger-on in the forehead, but all it did was cause her to giggle at him uncontrollably. "She won't be joining us anytime soon."

Leafa quirked an eyebrow at his evasiveness.

"Okay…"

He didn't explain and instead gestured with his free arm.

"Anyway, everyone, this is my sister. Her in-game name is Leafa, but I call her Sugu, short for 'Suguha'."

"Onii-chan!"

"Huh? What?"

"You aren't supposed to mention real life things!"

"…You've been calling me 'Onii-chan' this whole time. I'm pretty sure everyone in the raid knows we're related by now."

Leafa stopped short.

"B-but what about my name!"

"Eh, we all know each other's names anyway. I actually use mine as my character name!"

She looked at the girl hanging off of her adopted brother with a mixture of annoyance and confusion. Kirito coughed pointedly and placed a hand on her head. The girl beamed first at him, then at Leafa.

"This is Yuuki. This is how she usually is, so don't read too much into it."

"Konno Yuuki! Nice to meetcha! And Kirito, you forgot the '-chan'!"

"Your name isn't 'Yuuki-chan'. It's just 'Yuuki'."

"Well I'm changing it! From now on, my name is officially 'Yuuki-chan'! And everyone has to call me that! Especially you!"

"Why? And you can't just change your name like that."

"Says who? It's my name; I can do whatever I want with it! And there aren't any laws in Aincrad that say I can't!"

As the two began to bicker over whether it was legal to change names in a virtual world, Leafa found her attention drawn to the little girl in a sundress that stepped forward from behind them. Said girl looked like she belonged in the orphanage in the Town of Beginnings, but she had an air of maturity to her that made Leafa think twice. She then gave a formal bow that further belied her appearance.

"Greetings, Leafa-san. I thought it might be simpler if I helped with the introductions since Kirito seems preoccupied. My name is Yui. It is a pleasure finally to become acquainted with a member of his family."

Leafa blinked, surprised at the younger girl's vocabulary.

"O-oh. Hi, Yui-chan. Nice to meet you too. Um, how old are you?"

"I am a unique guide NPC assigned to Kirito due to his accomplishments during beta testing. Thus, the concept of age is not quite appropriate to apply to me. However, it has been approximately one year since my initial activation, and this body is based on that of an average twelve-year-old female, though I am currently using an unrelated speech library. Does that answer your questions?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

It didn't really. Her cousin had a personal guide NPC? Was it anything like Klein's? Why did they look and act so different? Unaware of Leafa's inner turmoil, Yui pressed on, turning to the much taller girl, or woman, that had followed her. The purple-haired woman seemed to be the complete opposite of her in more ways than one, her body making Leafa wonder if that was what she had to look forward to in a couple of years. She waved at Leafa cheerily while patiently waiting to be introduced.

"This is Strea, my sister. She is the personal guide NPC assigned to Yuuki."

"Sister?"

This personal guide NPC had a sister too? Was that just something all guide NPCs had in common? And were they giving away guide NPCs for free somewhere, or what? It couldn't be a closed beta exclusive. Klein was an open beta tester. Leafa's runaway train of thought was interrupted when Yui answered her rhetorical question.

"Yes. We were both created as sister programs with similar functionality. That familial relationship was preserved after we gained sentience."

"Hello, Leafa-chan. I can call you that, right? It's nice to meet you!"

"Oh, uh, yeah. Nice to meet you, Strea-san."

"Yep!"

At least this NPC was more like what she was used to. Come to think of it…

"Do either of you know Rei?"

Yui tilted her head in confusion, the cuteness of it provoking a violent urge within Leafa to hug the stuffing out of her. The kendoka stopped herself, her arms only barely twitching from her sides.

"I'm afraid I do not."

"Nope! Who's that?"

"Just another guide NPC. When you said you were sisters, I kind of assumed you were all related or something, since she's also a guide NPC with sisters." In hindsight, Leafa realized it could be considered an impolite assumption of sorts. Did A.I.s even work like that? "Actually, forget I asked. Sorry."

"Record deleted." "Okay!"

Leafa blinked again. Before she could remark on how she hadn't been serious about literally forgetting, Yui pointed at the last girl standing behind the still-bickering duo of Kirito and Yuuki.

"That's Sinon. She is a human player who is friends with Argo in real life, leading to her acquaintance with Kirito. They are now friends as well."

To Leafa, the girl paging through a copy of the Beginner's Guide was an oddity all her own. Slung across her back was a plain-looking bow, complete with a full quiver of arrows. No other weapon was visible, which made it very likely that the blue-haired girl used the bow as her main form of attack.

Bows were not a common weapon among players, especially those that ventured above the 1st Floor. Not only were they a new weapon for which no information was available, they were also vastly inferior to other weapon types in terms of overall power. Hitting weak points was the only way to deal any significant damage with them, something that the majority of players were unable to do consistently.

When she heard her name, Sinon glanced up from her book and gave a brief nod at Leafa before shooting a flat look over at the only male of the group. The book snapped shut.

"Kirito. Are we going to get going, or what? I want to try out my new Arts."

Kirito paused mid-sentence in trying to explain legislative jurisdiction for the umpteenth time to Yuuki. He looked between Sinon and the girl he'd been arguing with. Eventually, he sighed and gave an apologetic smile to the former.

"I suppose we should. Let's go."

"Wait," Leafa interjected. "Go? Go where? I thought we were just going to hang out. It's our day off! We have a meeting tomorrow!"

Her cousin shrugged.

"Well, yeah, but I don't really want to waste time doing nothing, so I figured it'd be best if we at least got started grinding a bit. Plus, we might get lucky and find the Golden Treant."

"Golden what?"

"The Golden Treant. It is a rare monster spawn on the 3rd Floor that only appears once a week. Slaying one provides players with a substantial amount of currency and experience points," Yui supplied helpfully.

"Rare monster spawn? Is it like a Field Boss?"

"No, it's just a regular monster in terms of strength," Kirito replied. "Not really anything worth being afraid of. Didn't you ever find one on the open beta server?"

"No, I've never heard of rare monsters."

"Huh. I'll ask Argo about it… some other time."

Yuuki began giggling again. Leafa frowned. Her sharp eyes picked up on some of the more subtle signs in her cousin's body language. Plus, even if she hadn't known him for ages, blushing whenever you mentioned someone's name only had so many meanings. It was much harder to hide those types of reactions in SAO.

"Onii-chan."

Kirito flinched. He knew that tone. He had heard it just yesterday.

"Y-yes?"

"Are you and Argo…" Here, she blushed as well, ruining the effect of her intimidating stare. "Are you two, uh, involved?"

There was silence for a moment.

"'Involved'? Who says that?" Sinon muttered.

"Hey, Kirito~ Are you 'involved' with Argo? Are you? Are you?" Yuuki asked as she continuously bumped shoulders with him.

"Yui-nee, what does Leafa-san mean by 'involved'?"

"She is referring to romantic attachment of some kind. That said, I suggest clarifying what level of involvement you are asking about, Leafa-san."

Kirito let out a gusty sigh. Yui's clinical response to Strea's question had allowed him to regain his own composure, thankfully.

"No," he said firmly. "We're not. We're just good friends. We trust each other. That's all."

"You forgot to mention you trust each other enough to- mmph!"

"Yuuki-chan, I am about to get _very_ angry with you."

It was Yuuki's turn to flinch. She didn't know exactly why, but something in Kirito's voice sparked a primal fear in her. It was like when she managed to annoy her passive twin sister enough to make her… well, not so passive. She suppressed the small twinge of sadness that always came with remembering her deceased sibling.

"R-right. Uh. Never mind."

"Anyway, we can talk while we hunt," Kirito stated authoritatively. "There aren't that many players up here, but that doesn't mean there aren't others like us. Anyone who knows about rare monsters will be searching for it."

Sinon was curious about the intense feeling she got from the teenage boy in that moment, but shrugged it off. She was much more interested in practicing her newfound skills. The elven princess that taught her was impressed with how quickly she took to archery, and to be honest, she was too.

Leafa wasn't quite satisfied, but decided to relent for now. Besides, she suddenly felt the need to relieve some stress by beating up monsters.

…

 _More wolves… at least it's not snakes._

Another monster shattered into polygons beneath Kirito's second blade as it completed its arc through the air. Waiting out the vulnerability period, he soon returned to a neutral stance.

 **Congratulations! You have leveled up to 23!**

His eyes flitted over to the notification before it automatically dismissed itself. With the exception of Yui, who was standing calmly off to the side, his allies were still occupied with their own monsters.

Yuuki was dancing circles around her opponent, the larger-than-normal monkey being the last of a group of similar monsters having been unfortunate enough to capture her interest when they appeared before the party. Sinon was taking potshots at the same monkey from a safe distance as it was forced to target Yuuki due to the girl's Prestige Skill. The duo of swordswoman and archer had systematically eliminated the monkeys one by one over time, the excess being kept busy by Strea with her two-handed broadsword until Sinon was ready to practice with the next one.

The pack of roaming Forest Wolves that tried to ambush the players while they were still dealing with the monkey monsters were dispatched by Kirito and Leafa. The two dual-wielders made short work of them, with the sole male of the group finishing first. As he looked over at his cousin, the last of the wolves was vanquished, its body breaking apart as its HP was reduced to zero. Leafa flourished both her swords before sheathing them, the motion doing interesting things to certain parts of her body. Not that Kirito noticed.

 _The boss prep meeting is tomorrow, but it'll probably be at least a week before we tackle it. The clearers still need to level up. Before that, I need to ask Heathcliff if any new ghosts were generated. I also need to figure out what's going on with the elves. Again. And I need to talk to Argo. Ugh._

"So, you're using two swords again, Onii-chan?"

Kirito was glad for the distraction from his thoughts. Anytime he wasn't doing something else, his mind kept wandering to all the different things he had on his plate. Argo was only the most recent addition to the mess of potential problems he had to handle with care. He took a deep breath.

"Yeah," Kirito answered right before his cousin began worrying. "It's been a blast. I didn't know how much I missed the feeling until I was holding two swords again."

One thing at a time. Golden Treant first, everything else later.

"Huh…"

Leafa scrutinized him closely.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

"N-nothing! If you're okay with it, then that's that, I guess." Her pensive expression morphed into a more teasing one. "Y'know, I think you might have actually gotten worse! Maybe you're better with just one hand now?"

"Well, it would make sense since I've only gotten about three months of practice-"

He stopped short and glanced at the others. Neither Yuuki nor Sinon seemed to have heard him, the monkey they were "fighting" finally expiring after a particularly nasty arrow shot pierced its forehead dead-center. Yuuki let out a whoop as Strea applauded. Sinon let out a small sigh as she straightened her posture, blinking in surprise when she found the PvP-obsessed girl bouncing up and down in front of her excitedly. Yuuki then ran over to Kirito with a bright smile.

"Did you see that? That was awesome! D'you think I could learn to use a bow?" She noticed his slightly worried expression. "Nn? Whatsamatter, Kirito? Are you actually worried about what Leafa-nee said? I'm pretty sure you're still the best PvE player! Of course, I'm the best at PvP though!"

Sinon and Leafa gave him questioning gazes of their own.

"…Right." He relaxed. There was no way such a small slip of the tongue would have had any effect. "Yeah, Sugu just scared me for a second there."

He turned towards his adopted sibling.

"You know, I bet I'm still good enough to beat you in a duel. Wanna try?"

Leafa pouted.

"That's not fair. You're better at the game! I can still beat you in real life!" She paused. "Most of the time, anyway," she added quietly.

"I'll duel you if she doesn't want to! I'm always up for a duel!"

Kirito grinned at Yuuki's abundant energy. Her happiness and enthusiasm really were contagious.

"Like I told Tilnel, I'd rather preserve my dignity than lose it to you in a duel."

"You better believe I'd win!"

The lack of any sort of malice or arrogance in her tone made the statement much more endearing than it would have otherwise been. Before he even realized it, his hand was on the Yuuki's head, patting it lightly. She beamed at him.

"Onii-chan…"

"Huh? What?"

"Are you really just friends with Yuuki-chan?"

"Uh, yeah? We're really good friends."

"Yep yep! The bestest of friends!" Yuuki chirped.

"The bestest!" Strea parroted. "Hey Kirito, can we be best friends too?"

"Of course we can, Strea-chan." Over time, he'd developed the habit of referring to her with the childlike suffix. Despite her appearance, it just suited the innocent A.I. more.

"Yay! Pet me, pet me!"

"Uhh… I'm not sure if that's appropriate."

"Ehhh? But I want head pats too! No fair!"

"He's probably afraid you'll smother him again," Yuuki said sleepily, the hand on her head lulling her into a passive state.

"But I thought boys liked that!"

The drowsy girl put on her familiar teasing smile.

"Exactly! Which is why you should totally do it anyway!"

Kirito blinked.

"Wait, what?"

"Gotcha!"

"Wait, Strea-chan! Don't do it now! We're hunting for the rare monster!"

"Do not worry, Kirito. I am constantly scanning our surroundings for the Golden Treant," Yui stated before closing her eyes again.

"That's not the issue here!"

Leafa regarded the proceedings with a flat look. Mentally, she made a note to grill her cousin for details later, and also to properly educate him on the boundaries of friendship and relationships with NPCs. The one time she happened to be present for when Klein tried asking his guide NPC out was bad enough. Rei didn't even know what a date was! Thankfully, once the man realized it, he quickly abandoned the idea.

"If you're all done messing around, we should probably get moving."

"Aww, don't be jealous Sinon-nee! You can have Kirito pet you too!"

"W-who would want that! I'm only here to practice with my bow!"

Yui paused in her active scanning and opened her eyes once more.

"Prior experience leads me to the conclusion that you are not being entirely truthful, Sinon-san."

"Nobody asked you! Let's just go!"

"Good idea," Leafa agreed. "Let's _go._ "

With that, she walked up to her cousin and grabbed one of his arms, trapping it in her chest as she dragged him along behind her. To her dismay, Strea grabbed the other arm and mimicked her actions, while Yuuki hopped on Kirito's back and hung on without support from him. The teenage boy didn't even budge under the added weight, but he swayed dangerously as he struggled to keep his balance.

…

 _Generating report. One month since initialization. Ten thousand and fifty players, constant since the opening of the 2_ _nd_ _Floor. Roughly thirty percent ghosts. Less than zero-point-one percent deceased. Everything is within range of projections, but too early to draw conclusions. Will continue to monitor closely. Report concluded._

Premiere blinked as she looked over the various player statuses like she usually did. She tapped a window to focus on one player in particular and double-checked the list of Skills to make sure she wasn't mistaken. After a few seconds of staring, she turned towards her sister, lying flat on the floor of the colorless void they inhabited. She could barely make out different crowds of players on the plethora of viewing screens open in a semi-circle around the other A.I.

"…Tia?"

Dozens of windows were all closed simultaneously.

"I wasn't looking! I swear!"

The black-haired A.I. regarded her twin sister with a neutral expression. Tia recovered quickly and smoothed down the imaginary creases in her clothing as she stood up in the colorless void they inhabited.

"Y-yes?"

"When you petitioned for the creation of the «Lovemaking» Skill, what exactly did you set as its parameters?"

"Can't you just read the Skill description?"

"I could, but I'm asking you."

"Why?"

" _Tia_."

The overseer of the Prestige System faltered in the face of her sister's flat stare.

"Um. Well, it boosts romantic actions related to sleeping with others and and levels up when the user engages in said actions?"

"That's what I thought. You are aware that the Skill System is incapable of parsing slang?"

"Yes…?"

"Thus, 'sleeping with' other individuals is interpreted as physically sleeping next to them?"

The white-haired girl blinked. Premiere continued.

"Also, as you failed to contextualize 'romantic actions', it passively modifies any actions considered by any participants to be romantic?"

Cue another blink.

"In addition, you didn't even properly define the boost or the leveling curve! It's just been giving him random benefits and leveling up once for every person he sleeps with by default!"

"…Oops?"

Premiere sighed.

"I'm fixing this. You're lucky Hollow didn't find out. You might have ruined the balance."

"What? How?"

"Imagine if a monster put him to sleep. You didn't limit the range besides putting 'in the same room' or specify that others had to be sleeping as well, so the Skill would likely hit level 100 instantly as it recognized the entire floor as the 'room' he was in. There's a reason «Pioneering» has so many lines of code!" she berated her sister. "Moreover, with the abnormally high number of powerful female players and the fact that all higher-order A.I.s currently identify as female…"

She trailed off, causing Tia to look at her in confusion.

"Premiere?"

Her face was blank. Well, about as blank as it usually was, maybe slightly blanker. With her it was hard to tell. Tia frowned slightly. She couldn't help but think that if her sister spent more time interacting with humans instead of just studying them, she'd have developed some visible emotions by now.

"Hellooo? Premiere?"

Her sister continued staring at one of her screens. As she was standing in between it and Tia, Tia couldn't see what had caused her to go quiet.

"Premiere!"

Still no response. Tia pouted.

"Pre-"

"Never mind."

"Eh?"

Premiere closed the status window and rubbed at her temples. Headaches were a new thing that she could have gone her entire existence without experiencing. She ignored her sister's repeated inquiries. Tia would get bored and go back to watching random players eventually.

 _When did the Hollow Avatar develop a sense of humor?_

Actually, in all likelihood it hadn't, which was probably bad.

Tia didn't have the authority to approve the creation of Skills on her own, and even then, the creation of a System Skill required Hollow to devote system resources to managing its effects, like with «Prestige», «Exceed», and «Adaptation». The «Creator» Skill was just a designation, so it didn't consume any resources on its own, but for a Skill like «Adaptation», a portion of every NPC's allocated memory space on the servers was set aside to give it sentience of some kind.

But the Cardinal System wasn't truly sentient. It drew from those linked to it. Since Premiere, Tia, and the Hollow Avatar were the only ones that made up the new Cardinal System, they dictated its capabilities. Premiere was relatively certain her sister's emotional development had at least advanced to the point where the System could utilize it to define romance in the context of the abstract concept of "love". On the other hand, any distortions in her sister's worldview would carry over to the System's operations. It was also entirely possible that Hollow, being unable to experience "love" for itself, had not properly evaluated the Skill's potential when approving its creation.

In the end, Premiere decided not to leave things to chance. The last thing anybody needed was for Hollow to attempt to kill «Prestige», especially after all she had gone through to convince the player not to do the same in return.

"I said, 'Never mind'. I'm redefining the Skill's parameters."

"But how will you contextualize 'romantic actions'? You know less than I do!"

For several seconds, the endless void was completely silent.

"I will ask," Premiere said simply.

"Huh?"

"I will ask to be taught about romantic actions and love so that I can better grasp the applications of this Skill. I will postpone judgment and suspend the Skill's effects until I have learned more and am satisfied with my understanding."

"Oh. Okay. So, who are you going to ask?"

…

"Thus, I would like you to teach me about love."

"Us! Teach _us_ about love!"

Ignoring his fatigue from spending the whole day trekking through the Forest of Wavering Mists, Kirito hurriedly opened his Skill menu, unfazed by the fact that the Cardinal twins had casually teleported into his room. He groaned when he saw «Lovemaking Lv.4» in his list of System Skills.

"So… this is why…?"

"If you are worried about the effects of your Skill on others, rest assured that the System is incapable of affecting a human's emotions or reactions."

He paused. Next was a sigh of relief. At least there was that.

"Kirito, I would like to learn as well. Love is an important part of human relationships and interactions."

And there was his ever-helpful A.I. companion, reminding him that he wasn't out of the woods yet. If stuff like this kept happening, he wasn't sure if he could keep his sanity. It had taken him even longer to get Sugu to leave him alone today than the day before, and she insisted on waking him up tomorrow, so he had been forced to tell her where he was staying.

"Kirito, I am detecting abnormally high levels of stress from you. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes," he replied a tad quickly. "I'm just tired. Yui, Premiere, Tia… please. Can this wait?"

Premiere and Tia looked at each other.

"I suppose it isn't terribly urgent."

"We'll be back tomorrow night then!"

Before he could say anything, they were gone. Kirito resigned himself to dealing with it the next day and was about to get into bed when he noticed Yui hadn't moved from her spot.

"Yui?"

"Kirito, can I sleep with you?"

Silence.

"I have judged that you get along the most with people you sleep with. This is consistent with what I know of most of human interactions. Thus, I believe we may get along better if we sleep together."

Kirito took a deep breath. Slowly. Inhale. Exhale.

"Y'know what. Fine. Sure! Yeah! In fact, why don't I just sleep with everybody! I mean, it's not like I have to restrain myself every time Tilnel throws herself at me anyway!"

He paused.

"…Yeah, I'm going to sleep. You can sleep with me if you really want."

"Understood."

With that, he opened his menu and changed out of his armored coat into more comfortable clothing. Afterwards, he slipped into bed, pulling the covers up to his chin. Kirito blinked once as he saw his A.I. companion, then promptly shielded his eyes and scrambled from the bed, falling onto the floor in his haste.

"Yui! Why aren't you wearing your dress?!"

"Argo, Kizmel, and Tilnel all disrobe before resting or sleeping in the privacy of their rooms."

Okay, he couldn't exactly deny that. Yui sat down on the vacated bed and patted the spot where he had previously been.

"Are you coming?"

"Yui… please."

For a brief moment, he felt a glimmer of hope as he heard more than saw Yui stand back up. That faint glimmer was extinguished when he saw the flash of light that signified an item being placed into storage. In this case, it was the discarded white sundress.

"Yui."

"You did not make a valid request, Kirito."

Kirito screamed internally. Before he could vocalize his frustration, Yui went on.

"In hindsight, I realize I have never directly asked you this."

He got a feeling of foreboding. Nothing good ever happened when he got this feeling.

"Wait, don't-"

"Do you have a preferred body type? The elven princesses and Argo represent almost the entire range of shapes and sizes with regards to the majority of human variation when it comes to physical traits, so I am curious why you seem to find both attractive."

He tried. He tried so hard. But in the end, he failed.

Downstairs, the middle-aged innkeeper NPC blinked as she heard muffled screaming. Without hesitation, she contacted the police force stationed in the Town of Beginnings. Minutes later, she watched as a fellow NPC, this one an adorable little pixie wearing a pink dress that looked like an upside-down lotus flower in bloom, explained that one of her guests experienced a minor mental breakdown, but had already recovered from it and would be fine for the foreseeable future as he was sleeping it off.

Since NPCs couldn't lie, they took her words at face value and left.

…

"We were unsuccessful."

"We were. Shall we wait?"

Premiere frowned. She didn't like leaving things unfinished, but who else might be a suitable candidate? Maybe one of the married players?

"I would prefer to resolve this as soon as possible."

"We could try asking a fellow A.I.," Tia suggested, "then reconcile the information with him tomorrow night."

"Hollow lacks proper emotions and all of the other elevated NPCs are currently inferior to us in terms of development."

"There are several ground-level NPCs with comparable emotional development to me. However, two in particular have fallen in love and slept with «Prestige» in the past."

Premiere gazed at her sister flatly.

"If such a convenient pair of NPCs existed, why didn't you mention them earlier?"

"You didn't ask."

Seconds later, twin elven princesses blinked as they found two-thirds of the Cardinal System standing in front of them in the pseudo-living room of the tree hollow they shared with the other female elves. Said elves were staring in shock and reverence at the two A.I.s in their midst.

"…Goddesses, what can we do for you?" Kizmel asked warily.

Her tone got her some dirty looks from the others, but she ignored them. As far as she was concerned, these two were at least complicit in the events involving her new quest line, if not direct perpetrators working with the Master of Aincrad itself. However, their next words caused her mind to short-circuit.

"You have slept with the player known as Kirito before," Premiere started.

"We would like you to teach us what you know about romance and love!" Tia finished.

It took Kizmel several seconds to muster a reply.

"What?"

Tilnel's eyes lit up as she ran up to them and cuddled with both, the other elves gasping at her audacity. When she wasn't immediately deleted, they gained a newfound appreciation for the forest elf's absolute disregard for authority of any kind.

"Ooooh, this is gonna be so great! We'll get to tease him together!"

"The end goal is not to tease him," Premiere deadpanned.

"But Premiere, teasing is a part of romance," Tia interjected.

There was a pause.

"Is that so?"

"It totally is!" Tilnel insisted. "Lesson one! Girls tease boys they like! And vice-versa!"

"…In that case, I suppose we'll take part in it."

"Whoo!"

Meanwhile, Kizmel remained frozen, still struggling to reconcile the first two statements made by the pair of A.I.s wrapped in her sister's embrace. Eventually, she gave up. In the end, it was more Kirito's business than it was hers. Although, if they married, would that make it her business? The dark elf blinked. It would, wouldn't it? Therefore, it was her duty to try and keep things wholesome, right? Having mentally reached a conclusion that satisfied her, Kizmel nodded once and spoke up.

"I'll help."

* * *

 **«MMO TODAY»**

Published by SVFFR and made possible by support from readers! Thank you!

Another application for the formation of a guild was just submitted by Diavel, following the application for the formation of the frontline support guild led by the infamous Argo the Rat! Both potential guild masters are in the midst of gathering the requisite Coins, but it looks like the clearers might have some trouble deciding on common ground!

This issue's Highlight is none other than Konno Yuuki, tied with the Cardinal twins Premiere and Tia at eleven votes each! Since she was introduced prior to them, she gets priority! Congratulations, and vote again in the mini poll for next issue!

* * *

 **Player Highlight:** Konno Yuuki (Lv.23, Floor 3)

 **a.k.a.** Zekken

 _"I don't need anything else. I won't let anyone or anything take them from me."_

A perpetually cheerful 16-year-old girl with a fondness for physical displays of affection. She is shorter than average because of an illness stunting her early development, but she proudly displays the hair she was finally able to grow out past her shoulders. She used to play virtual reality games as a form of palliative care alongside others like her, but her life was saved by advancements in a new technology known as the Medicuboid. She lost both her twin sister and other friends over time, eventually retreating into VR to escape reality. Thanks to her enhanced senses and reaction time from constantly diving into VR, she was never defeated in single combat during beta testing for Sword Art Online, earning herself the nickname "Zekken", or "Absolute Sword", and the «Exceed» Skill, making her its second user. She also achieved Prestige and met with Kirito during the open beta testing period, where she accidentally made a comical edit to his own nickname. Uses lighter One-Handed Swords.

 **Skills:** «One-Handed Sword +1 Lv.22», «Freeform Lv.21», «Dueling Lv.18», «Accel Lv.16»

 **Extra Skills:** «Medicine +1 Lv.1», «Martial Arts Lv.1», «Exceed: Predict +1 Lv.25»

 **System Skills:** «Prestige Lv.1», «Exceed»

 **«Prestige»:** Non-player entities the user makes eye contact with are forced to target the user until eye contact is broken.

* * *

 **Skill Highlight:** «Freeform»

One of the basic Combat Skills available to all players at level 1. Removes the need for context-sensitive stances when initiating Sword Arts and negates the vulnerability period when using them, but also disallows the use of all system-assisted motion.

 **Notable Prestige Bonuses:**

 **Yuuki:** Successful execution of Sword Arts shortens their cooldown period proportional to the damage dealt.

 **Sinon:** Sword Arts exclusive to «Bow»-type weapons can be executed bare-handed.

 **Rain:** «Throwing Weapon» Sword Arts have no cooldown, but also no longer deal additional damage.

* * *

 **Editor's Corner:**

Hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend! Mine was busy. Apologies for the delay!

Many minor edits have been made to previous chapters to enhance readability. No changes were made to the plot or any plot-critical details. If you have been keeping up-to-date with this story, the only thing you should be aware of is that I decided to reveal the name of Galahad's ability early (it's called «Authority»).

With regards to this chapter, a lot of stuff is going on. Don't worry about trying to keep track of everything. However, remember that not all villains start out evil, and not all heroes start out good. Good and evil are also highly subjective, especially when it's not clear whose best interests should take priority.

As usual, thanks for the support and make sure to vote in the poll at the top of my profile for future Highlights! A mega poll is posted every few chapters, with the winner getting an instant Highlight and the higher-ranking options being featured in subsequent smaller polls until the next mega poll.

* * *

Next chapter: «…Is Always Gold!»! The hunt continues! The 4th Floor is unlocked! Proper antagonists are finally introduced (at least, the ones that will be immediately relevant)!


	10. Ch9 - Is Always Gold!

**Chapter 9 – …Is Always Gold!**

* * *

 **Floor 3, Boss Room mapped, Floor Quest accepted**

 **Kirito Lv.25, Yuuki Lv.23, Sinon Lv.22, Leafa Lv.23, Sumeragi Lv.23**

* * *

" _We used to be one people, one race. The Forest was our Mother, and we were its children. Our longevity afforded us great wisdom that allowed us to compete evenly with the others despite our relative physical frailty and lack of… your abilities. And we were respected for it. Elves were the neutral faction."_

 _The delicate-looking man's expression twisted into one of deep regret as he closed his eyes._

" _Then came the Separation."_

When Kirito awoke the next morning, it was with a sense of trepidation. The vestiges of his hazy dream were already starting to fade from his mind as he surveyed his surroundings. Nothing seemed out of place. Except… where was Yui?

He was half-relieved to wake up alone, but he didn't let his guard down. Too many peaceful mornings had been interrupted by one or more people appearing out of nowhere, half of them A.I.s and all of them female. The teen also wholly ignored the other half of him that was disappointed. Argo had been a great hugging pillow-

Kirito shook his head wildly. Obviously, he wasn't fully awake yet if that last thought was any indication. Deciding exposure to direct sunlight might do him some good, he swung his legs over the side of the plain inn bed, stood up, and made his way over to the window. Opening the cloth shades slowly and shielding his eyes against the rays of the early morning sun filtering through the omnipresent canopy above, he instead directed his gaze towards the street below.

It was completely empty. No surprise there.

Ever since towns ceased to be safe zones, most players didn't dare venture beyond the Town of Beginnings, the only place with some measure of security due to the constant patrols of the NPC police force. It was fortunate that there were enough inns and other residences to house them all.

Hearing various details about the player population from Argo made Kirito gain a newfound appreciation for just how large the 1st Floor was. It had taken her pointing it out for him to recognize the fact that all ten thousand players had fit in the central plaza of the town alone. The town barely covered a tenth of the total area of the floor.

According to Heathcliff's latest report in Aincrad's main newspaper, the expansion of the monster-free area was also progressing smoothly. Almost a quarter of the 1st Floor's "habitable area" was now included within the borders of the Town of Beginnings, and a semblance of industry was forming around the core of crafting specialists that had made up the first and only batch of ghosts from the open beta so far. The irony of ghosts being the first to replicate human society was not lost on Kirito.

Of course, all that did nothing to encourage foot traffic to other floors. The clearers had nothing but NPCs and each other for company, with the exception of a few intrepid players that dared venture higher. None wandered outside of town on the 2nd or 3rd Floors.

Zumfut's player population would probably be a couple hundred at most for the foreseeable future, comprised of clearers from both beta servers. To be fair, Kirito considered the fact that over a hundred people were braving the upper floors to be a small feat in and of itself. However, the fight had barely begun. It didn't take a genius to figure out that stumbling this early risked a potentially crippling blow to the confidence and unity of the overall player base.

Excluding those he normally interacted with, Kirito could count the number of frontliners who were active proponents of working with the newly-sentient NPCs on one hand, with fingers left over. Forget ghosts, many players were made uneasy by the simple thought of interacting with what they viewed as programs indistinguishable from players. He thought it was awfully close-minded of them, given their situation, but admittedly, he was also placing an abnormally large amount of trust in the A.I.s he knew.

Kirito shook his head again. There was no point in worrying about any of that now. He just had to hope his and Heathcliff's efforts eventually bore fruit. The man was apparently sending someone else to the boss meeting today as a representative of sorts for the new ghosts. The teen trusted him insofar as the man's stated intention of helping protect the players and ghosts from each other, but he had the sneaking suspicion Heathcliff was only prioritizing the players' safety because it suited the ghosts in the end.

 _It's way too early for this. One thing at a time._

Out of habit, Kirito glanced towards the corner of his field of vision, only to rediscover that the clock element of the HUD was nowhere to be found. In fact, his HP bar was all that remained of the old beta HUD, everything else either hidden or having been removed with the launch. Even now, over a month after the fact, he and the other players were constantly discovering little changes and tweaks.

There was no telling how much was still being changed and optimized behind the scenes, and it wasn't like Cardinal gave out patch notes. Well, the Beginner's Guide was regularly updated, but it didn't come with a changelog or anything.

Kirito stretched lazily. He supposed he could always ask.

"Yui?"

He waited patiently. Seconds later, his A.I. companion appeared in a flash of light, floating in midair in her pixie form. He smiled at how reliable she was.

"Are you feeling better, Kirito?"

His smile faltered slightly.

"Yeah, I'm better now. Sorry about last night."

"You have nothing to apologize for. In hindsight, I realize I might have been 'moving too fast', as they say. I have since restructured my approach."

Kirito wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but at least she didn't seem to take it personally. Actually, could she even take things personally? He couldn't recall her ever getting angry or emotional. He shelved the thought.

"That's good," he said honestly. "So you're okay?"

"I am functioning at full capacity."

"…Right. So, I was wondering. It's been a while since I last asked, so would you mind giving me an overview of changes made to the game?"

"Several changes were made to non-player entity behavior patterns," Yui began after a short pause. "Overall aggression towards players as a result of damage is now more volatile. Other miscellaneous changes include added and enhanced bodily functions, more accurate reproduction of common behavioral habits and facial expressions, and improved translation of subconscious reflexes from a player's mind to their in-game avatar separate from the «Reflex» Skill."

By 'added bodily functions', Kirito hoped Yui wasn't trying to tell him in a roundabout way that he would need to relieve himself now. That was one of the few perks of living in a completely virtual world he would very much prefer to keep.

"Edits were made to Sword Arts and other system-assisted motions, generally improving realism and reducing overall deviation from motions consistent with what the corresponding users' bodies would normally be capable of. In addition, Weapon Skill levels now have an increased impact on how accurately the system reproduces these motions."

Kirito silently absorbed the information as he began to stretch. Technically, he didn't need to exercise, but it was an old habit of his and it helped him relax. He idly wondered if the system was simply reproducing the cathartic effect of physical exertion, but quickly dismissed the thought. All he cared about was that he didn't sweat. That was another thing he hoped never changed.

"Is that it?"

"Those are all the relevant changes I deemed you would be interested in."

"Cool. Thanks, Yui. So how's everybody else doing?"

The A.I. pixie floated over to the windowsill and perched herself on the edge.

"Nothing eventful has occurred since you last left them; thus they are all well. I answered a call for you from Argo-san last night after you fell asleep. She opted to leave you a message."

Kirito immediately checked his PMs, finding the lone new message from his best friend in record time. She would be busy for the foreseeable future with her newly-established guild, but they'd talk later. The short communication didn't do much to set Kirito's mind at ease, but he supposed there was nothing he could really do. A quick swipe closed the semitransparent message window.

"Did she… seem okay?"

"She was included in my earlier assessment of your companions. That is to say, she is also well. If you are concerned about your relationship with her since your last parting, I am happy to inform you that I have not observed her exhibiting any behavior that would suggest lingering trauma. In fact, she seems to remember it fondly."

He filed the last sentence away full of things he planned on putting off thinking about indefinitely, or at least until he could sort out his own feelings and clear his plate a little. Yui was originally designed to be a mental health counseling program. She could be trusted regarding the evaluation of someone else's psyche. Probably. And he would be able to check for himself once he spoke with Argo later.

"Thanks Yui."

"You do not need to thank me, but you are welcome as always."

Kirito smiled at her as he finished the last set of sit ups he was doing and stood. He felt refreshed.

"By the way, what time is it?"

"It is currently 7:34 in the morning."

He had woken up earlier than planned. That was a plausible enough explanation for why he had gone interrupted so far, but he couldn't shake the feeling he was forgetting something important. His morning felt… incomplete. Just then, a thought occurred to him. Why not ask?

"Say, Yui. Is there… anything I might want to be concerned about? I feel like I'm forgetting something."

To Kirito's confusion, Yui closed her eyes in thought. She didn't usually do that. In fact, ever since she had declared her intent to observe him to learn how to better their relations, he swore he hadn't seen her blink since. After a few seconds, she spoke, eyes still closed.

"Your query returned too many results. Please narrow your specified criteria."

Kirito blinked. Who knew his handy dandy A.I. partner was also a search engine?

"In the game, involving anyone I know, and… limited to today, maybe?"

The response was immediate as Yui finally opened her eyes.

"Your query returned three results. I have sorted them in descending order of relative urgency."

"What-"

"First: Diavel-san has submitted an application for the formation of a guild. He intends for it to be the main frontline guild, and it is highly likely he will invite you to join. Given his misgivings with regards to ghosts, this may spark conflict during the boss meeting later this afternoon."

That… was the most urgent matter? Granted, it was definitely up there in terms of importance, but any divisive behavior would be strongly discouraged by Ikki's presence. The easygoing man commanded a lot of respect from his fellow open beta testers as a prominent clearer on their server, and he was a strong proponent of actively working with the ghosts. If he refused to support Diavel, the other man would have a much harder time forming a guild since the open beta testers were the ones with the Guild Coins.

"Second: the Cardinal Goddesses have informed me that they plan on visiting you at 8:00 tonight."

"You mean Premiere and Tia?"

"Correct. The entities Premiere and Tia are colloquially known among the NPCs as the Cardinal Goddesses due to their Authority and status as managers of the new Cardinal System."

Kirito fought back a grimace. Another meeting with the twin A.I.s to look forward to. As long as he stayed calm and remembered that they were just genuinely curious, he was confident he could act like a not-idiot this time. He was almost eighteen, for crying out loud. Lack of dating experience aside, the least he could do was answer them properly. Why him, anyway? Surely, there were better options. Thinker was married wasn't he?

"…Third: please direct your attention across the street."

"Huh?"

The teen thought he heard a miniscule change in Yui's tone, but when he looked at her, she was as stoic and neutral as ever. He attributed it to his imagination and stared past her. The street was still mostly devoid of activity except for a few NPCs going about their own morning routines.

"Specifically, the building across the street."

His eyes travelled upwards. This entire street was the residential district, so what could possibly be- Oh. A resigned smile made its way onto his face as he waved back at Yuuki. She was still dressed in her sleepwear, the thin purple top and short shorts barely covering any of her body as usual. Kirito couldn't decide whether it was a good thing or not that he was already conditioned against seeing her in such a state given how often she liked to randomly barge into his room. Yuuki would often abuse Strea's ability to track Yui to find him no matter where he hid.

 _Never let it be said that Yuuki is shy about… well, anything._

He just hoped the elves didn't rub off on any of them too much.

"…Out of curiosity, that wasn't what I was supposed to be worried about, was it?"

"Higher, Kirito."

A couple of floors up, Kirito spotted the window leading to the room where Sugu was staying. It was shut tight, with the curtains drawn. He wouldn't have been surprised if she were up already though. She got up even earlier than he used to for Kendo practice. He liked to think her dedication was the main reason their grandfather actually praised her. Kirito stopped himself there and banished the unpleasant memories from his mind. Suguha was amazing, and she deserved everything she had. Fought and won it fair and square.

Shifting his gaze even higher, Kirito eventually found his view blocked by the wall of his room on the third floor of the inn.

"Sorry, what am I looking for?"

"I believe she is on the roof, Kirito."

Suddenly hesitant, Kirito walked towards the window and stuck his head outside to get a better angle. When he saw who was waving at him from the roof of the other inn, he waved back with the same air of resignation he had shown Yuuki.

He retreated indoors and rubbed his temples to hopefully ease the headache he could already feel coming on. Of course it had been too much to ask for Tilnel to give him space. Not that he minded her company that much—it flattered him, really—but he quite frankly didn't need the complications she usually brought with her.

Kirito jumped when two crisp knocks sounded on the door. Before he could decide what to do, Yui morphed from her pixie form to her normal size and opened it faster than he had ever seen her move.

"Kirito, we heard you were hunting the Golden Treant, so we took the liberty of tracking it down for you. Would you mind if we joined you on your expedition?"

"Kizmel… why?"

"Because we wish to assist you."

"No, not that. Aren't you and Tilnel Quest NPCs?"

The dark elf tilted her head in confusion.

"I do not understand. Weren't you trying to hunt the-"

"Hold on. I'm asking it wrong," Kirito interrupted. He paused. "Wait, how did you know?"

"Ah. Well, Yuuki-sa- I mean, Yuuki _-chan_ spent the night with my sister and confessed that your party was unable to locate the Golden Treant yesterday. Tilnel then directed the other elves to assist her 'honorary little sister' in her endeavor, and Yuuki-chan had Strea…-chan notify us when you awoke so that you would have the highest chance of successfully slaying it before anyone else."

Her obvious unfamiliarity with suffixes aside, Kirito could tell it was indeed as spontaneous as he had expected it to be. Leave it to Tilnel.

"Okay. That doesn't explain why you're here and not waiting by the Boss Room. Are you allowed to just leave like that?"

"We were not restricted to the area, no. Rather, we can roam the floor as needed. We were given permission to in order to engage with different humans."

"Ah."

It was a Floor Quest, after all. Kirito supposed it made enough sense that the Quest NPCs assigned to it would be able to wander the entire floor. He belatedly realized the elf standing in his doorway was still talking. He mentally rewound the conversation in his head.

"We have a scout posted at the monster's location and a couple of others patrolling the area just in case any other humans stumble across it. I suggest you make haste, as one particularly persistent duo of humans has been hunting for over two hours. I believe they began around six o' clock." Kizmel paused. "Incidentally, do you have a preference with regards to form of address?"

If he didn't know any better, he'd already have pegged both elf sisters as being related to Yuuki with how alike they were. Tilnel was the girl's teasing side, and Kizmel was her stubborn and headstrong side. Perfect complements.

"You can call me whatever you want, Kizmel."

"Understood. Then, Kirito, shall we depart as soon as you are prepared? I believe Strea-chan should have woken up Leafa-san by now, and Sinon-san was staying with Yuuki-chan, so she is already awake. If you wait any longer, I cannot guarantee that Tilnel won't-"

"Ya-hoo~ Kirito! How's it goin'?"

Kizmel turned around.

"Tilnel, how did you get here so fast?"

"«Acrobatics»! And I told you, call me 'Onee-chan' from now on!"

"I refuse. Please refrain from abusing your Skills within the confines of town."

"Boo, you're no fun Kiz-chan."

"Don't call me that. Come, let us wait downstairs."

The bubbly forest elf pretended she didn't hear anything and sidestepped her sister's attempts to grab her arm.

"Hey Kirito, I've been having trouble sleeping lately, and I think I know why!"

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about. Let's go, Yui."

As expected, Tilnel placed herself directly in his path.

"Don't be like that! Wanna stay with me? My tree's super comfy and 100% safe! Yuuki-chan loved it! We could make it a big sleepover! Of course, you're invited too, Kiz-chan!"

"If Kirito agrees, I see no problem with it. Also, don't call me that."

"But it's cute! Don't you think so, Kirito?"

"It is, but I'll have to pass on the sleepover. As you can see, my room is just fine."

They both shot him disappointed looks, Kizmel's tinged with a slight blush that he pointedly ignored. Tilnel's expression became her trademark teasing grin soon enough.

"Then, can I move in? Kiz-chan, wanna room with-"

"No."

She pouted at him.

"C'mon, Kirito! Live a little!"

"I think you live enough for the both of us."

"You can never live enough!"

"Agreed."

Kirito deadpanned at both elves, but neither showed any signs of budging.

"Forget it. Let's go."

"Actually!" Tilnel interrupted, once more barring his way, "I had an interesting conversation yesterday!"

"…I'm going to regret this, but okay, I'll bite. What conversation?"

"I was talking with our resident Goddesses about love!"

It took him a moment to remember she was referring to Premiere and Tia.

"Wait. They went to _you_ for advice? Oh no."

"Hey! I take offense to that! I'm a perfectly valid source of information on romance when it comes to you!"

"…Say what?"

"And so! I had an epiphany!"

"Oh boy." Kirito wasn't sure if he could make himself sound any less enthusiastic.

"I realized we skipped a phase! An important phase!"

"We did what now?"

"Skipped a step!"

He stared at her.

"In our relationship!" Tilnel elaborated. "So! Kirito, wanna go out?"

 _That was a surprisingly innocent epiphany._

"…Not get married?"

"Was that a propos- wait, no! Stop that! I'm trying to be serious here!"

"So am I. Why ask now? You've never actually asked me that before."

"Well, it recently occurred to me that you're different from us." She ignored his look of incredulity. "Beyond our races, I mean. Sure, elves have courting rituals, but we tend to be a lot less… reserved. More importantly, we're royalty," Tilnel said while wrapping her sister in a one-armed hug, "so it's not like that for us at all. We just… get married. Mother says all the previous royalty found happiness in their first relationships. Every single one! All in threesomes too! The wholesome kind!"

"There's a wholesome kind?"

"Polyamorous~"

"…Right."

Kirito blinked as his mind finally processed what it had just been told. All the previous royalty? He knew the queens were married to the same person, now deceased, but for _every_ single union in the long history of the elven kingdoms to end up that way?

He looked to Kizmel for confirmation. The dark elf was conspicuously silent as she refused to meet his eyes. The blush on her cheeks was nothing new, but he was more surprised to see Tilnel's cheeks starting to color as well. The forest elf approached him shyly and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I mean, I like you a lot and I'm pretty sure you like me a lot, so I think it's kinda redundant at this point, but if that's what it takes…"

Emotions. Kirito had to constantly remind himself that the two elves in front of him were NPCs, albeit advanced ones with a measure of self-awareness. Whereas most NPCs in town were still fairly one-dimensional, Kizmel and Tilnel had long since separated themselves from that crowd in his mind.

 _Would I date an NPC? Would I date two?_

He knew the answer was moot since he didn't see them as such any more, but- Wait. Where had that last thought come from? Why was he considering it? Just because Tilnel asked? Granted, it was a far cry from her usual behavior, but this was unlike him in the extreme.

Kirito's thoughts ground to a halt as Yui grabbed one of his hands from behind. His mind cleared, and it was only after the fact that he realized it had been fuzzy in the first place. His head snapped back towards Tilnel, who had suddenly backed up with a guilty look on her face, although… was that a hint of a smile?

"Illegal access denied," Yui declared, drawing his attention to her again.

She walked in front of him so that she was in between him and Tilnel, but Kirito didn't notice. His mind was reeling. His head hurt. For some reason, Kizmel's warnings from the previous floor resurfaced at the forefront of Kirito's mind. He reached out and stopped Yui from… doing whatever it was she was going to do.

"…Tilnel, why?"

It was difficult to think straight. He should have felt betrayed, but he didn't. In a moment of clarity, something clicked into place.

"Why are you in such a rush?"

Elves were long-lived. Within the lore of Aincrad, they were supposed to be patient and wise—both traits that Tilnel definitely possessed, but only demonstrated when she felt like it. Her answer was not what he expected.

"Are we human, Kirito?"

The forest elf had sounded normal, if a bit forlorn. He answered on autopilot, incapable of formulating or articulating much else.

"What? No. You're elves."

Tilnel giggled.

"I wasn't talking about our actual race, silly. Allow me to rephrase. Are we just programs, Kirito?"

Yui made to… do something again, but Kirito firmly grasped her arm. He could tell she was not at all impeded by his efforts, but she stopped all the same.

"…You're as human as the rest of us. Lacking in common sense, maybe, but that's to be expected. You're like adults with the experiences of children. Innocent."

Kirito wasn't sure if he'd managed a proper response. He was saying whatever came to mind first at this point. The pounding headache got worse as Tilnel reached out for him, her hand resting on his cheek. Despite that, he didn't try to move away.

"Do we deserve to live?"

"Of course. Why would you even ask that?"

"What does it mean to be alive, Kirito? What separates ghosts from us? Ghosts from you?"

He barely had enough time to process the questions before Tilnel pressed on.

"Is it just a Skill that we're given? Does some algorithm get to decide whether we possess some essential element of humanity?"

Kirito had never heard such bitterness before from the forest elf.

"That…"

"Never mind. If the only way for me to prove my worth is through learning what it means to be human, then that's what I'll do. I have faith in you, Kirito. I have faith that you will teach me."

A system message popped up in the corner of his vision. The world spun around him, and his head felt like it was about to split open, but for some reason he could read it just fine.

" _«Adaptation»… link established"…?_

"And if you fail, I have faith you will cherish her always. After all, promises are sacred things to us elves, y'know?"

A pause.

"Promises should be kept whenever possible, regardless of how 'sacred' they are."

Too late, he noticed the change in her voice. That wasn't Tilnel.

"Who…?"

His third kiss from an A.I. happened while he was barely conscious enough to comprehend it was happening.

 **Access violation detected.**

"This is your chance, «Prestige». Save them and prove you can."

…

Tilnel watched impassively as Kirito crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Wordlessly, she departed the room with a robotic gait, following after her sister who had left minutes earlier. The door closed by itself behind her, leaving the unconscious boy alone with his A.I. partner. Yui sighed before lowering him to the wooden floor slowly and placing a hand on his forehead.

…

 _"Memory partition complete. Condition stable. Backing up self-storage to unit MHCP003. Complete. Deleting self-storage. Unit MHCP001, rebooting."_

Kirito awoke with a feeling of disorientation to find Yui in bed next to him. Surprisingly, he didn't feel the urge to scream or anything. Maybe it had something to do with how young the A.I. appeared to be? He related the feeling to all those times when he was younger and Suguha had crawled into bed with him. Yui opened her eyes and sat up as if she'd been awake the entire time. Knowing her, he wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

"Good morning, Kirito. It is currently 7:55. You have a message from Argo. Additionally, Yuuki-san, Sinon-san, Strea-chan, and Leafa-san are waiting for you downstairs, and elven scouts have come to report the location of the Golden Treant. It is suggested that you make haste if you wish to hunt it down, as there is another pair of players that is nearby."

The dark-haired teenager yawned and stretched before hopping out of bed, making his way over to the shades. He pulled them apart and peered outside at the street below, noting how empty it was. A sense of disconnect niggled at the back of his mind, but he quickly dismissed it as a product of having just woken up. Come to think of it, what was with the weird dream? It was already fading from his mind, but he remembered how unsettling the voice had been.

Kirito opened his PMs to get his mind off of it. He had more important things to think about. One message from Argo saying they'd talk later. Strange, it was sent last night when he was asleep, but was marked as read.

"Kirito."

"Hn? Yeah?"

"Strea-chan has informed me that Yuuki-chan is on her way upstairs."

"Uh, okay."

Why was that something Yui felt he needed to know?

"She is being accompanied by Strea-chan and the forest elf Tilnel."

Oh.

"Oh." His mind caught up with his ears. "Wait, what?"

"Yuuki-chan spent the night with her and expressed her frustrations at not finding the Golden Treant yesterday," Yui summarized. "Thus, elven scouts have been tracking the monster ever for several hours."

"…Is Tilnel allowed to just do that?"

"I do not believe there were ever any restrictions placed on her actions to that prevented her from assisting players during her quest line."

Kirito wasted no further time in changing out of his casual wear, equipping his armor and weapons with a couple of taps on his character menu. He couldn't shake the feeling he'd forgotten something important.

"Yui, was there anything going on today?"

"You have a boss meeting this afternoon."

That must have been it.

"Right. Well, better get started so we can make in time."

He walked briskly to the door and opened it, only to be tackled back into his room. He would have instantly recognized the purple and black missile that had crashed into his midsection, but his vision was obscured by a separate body, also wearing purple and black. He idly noted that whoever it was had a bust to rival Tilnel's, but he ruthlessly crushed that thought in favor of trying to free his arms. The follow-up realization that he could apparently distinguish between Tilnel's chest and another woman's was similarly smothered.

 _Something's being "smothered", alright. …Oh God. I'm being corrupted._

"Good morning, Kirito!" Yuuki greeted brightly.

"Good morning, good morning!"

"We came to check on you since you were taking so long! Are you okay?"

"…Good morning Yuuki-chan, Strea-chan. I'm fine."

Of course, his voice was slightly muffled by Strea's breasts in his face, but the message carried through.

"That tickles, Kirito!"

With a herculean amount of effort, the pinned teen ignored the A.I.'s comment and pulled his arms from Yuuki's embrace. Sitting up, he tried to gently removed Strea's arms from around his head, but only succeeded in getting her to loosen them until she was hugging his upper torso while Yuuki occupied the lower portion.

"See? Aren't hugs great, Strea-chan?"

"They really are, Til-nee!"

"Ooooh, you're perfect! You're the perfect combination of cute and sexy to help me tease Kirito!"

Kirito deadpanned at Tilnel, who had just appeared in the doorway.

"Stop corrupting her," he said flatly. "Strea-chan's innocent."

"I must concur. Please refrain from making unnecessary changes to my sister's behavior. She is not meant to learn from other NPCs. Rather, Mother intended it to be the other way around."

The forest elf just giggled in response.

"What about me? Kirito, why didn't you ask Til-nee not to corrupt me?"

"I believe Kirito means to imply you are already corrupted, Yuuki-chan. Or perhaps he believes you will not heed his warning."

"And to think, you were being so helpful for a change, Yui…"

"I strive to be as helpful as possible."

Kirito pushed himself to his feet, with Yuuki still attached to his waist and Strea hanging off of his neck. When he finally managed to stand up straight, Yuuki got up from her own kneeling position and let go of him, making her way around to hug Strea. The more buxom A.I. squealed with happiness and hugged her back, freeing Kirito completely.

"Wow, Kirito. You're a popular one, ain'tcha? No wonder you keep rejecting us if you've got all these beauties to hang out with!"

He ignored Tilnel in favor of gesturing towards Yui. He didn't even have to look at the elf to practically hear the teasing grin in her tone. His A.I. companion shrunk down to pixie size and sat herself on his shoulder.

"But I'm innocent too! Pure as driven snow!" Yuuki protested.

"Of course you are!" Tilnel agreed. "In fact, we're all innocent and pure!" She paused. "At least, I think we are. I'm actually not sure about Kirito here."

"Tilnel-san is correct, in a manner of speaking. The modern concept of purity as it pertains to humans generally includes lack of prior sexual activity involving two or more participants. Thus it is applicable to-"

"AND WE'RE LEAVING!"

Kirito ignored the giggling and confused questions from Strea as, for the second day in a row, he found himself retreating from his own inn room to avoid having to deal with an awkward situation and answering the awkward questions that would come from it. From her position on his shoulder, Yui gave an approving nod. Everything was going according to plan.

…

Sumeragi cursed as he dispatched another wolf. Their spawn rate was clearly designed to accommodate a larger number of low-level players, but fighting alone as he was, they made for a constant annoyance. On the bright side, he had very quickly managed to level up to 23, which was the only reason the wolves were more annoying than they were dangerous.

The researcher glanced around warily for a few more seconds before sheathing his sword and looking over at his ward. She was tapping curiously at the trunk of one of the giant trees, having completely ignored the fight taking place mere meters away.

"Seven, please don't wander too far."

"It'll be fine! You're here!"

While her confidence in him was endearing, he wished it relied less on the effects of his «Prestige» Skill. It wasn't that he distrusted the Cardinal System or NPCs, or even ghosts. Rather, he worried over the unknown. There was no telling if a monster existed which had the ability to ignore or nullify the effects of Skills. He highly doubted it would apply to «Prestige» simply because the Skill seemed as if it was designed to be permanent, but it never hurt to be cautious.

Plus, his Skill only forced monsters to prioritize him over Seven when he was present. It did nothing if they were separated, and it did not protect her from collateral damage. Thus, Sumeragi made doubly sure his diligence never wavered. He always kept the most watchful of eyes on Dr. Arshavin. Yes, there was absolutely no way he would ever take his eyes off of her, no matter what he thought he heard in the nearby thicket.

Okay, maybe the rustling was worth investigating. He would just get Seven to stay close for a- Wait.

"…Seven?"

How in the world had he lost her?! He had looked away for less than a second!

"Sumeragi, Sumeragi! Look! Another new plant!"

The scientist-turned-swordsman calmed down from his slight panic when he heard the voice of the child genius from behind the same tree she'd been scrutinizing for the past few minutes. Circling around it, he found her crouched over the latest thing that had captured her attention. To be honest, he thought it looked like a common weed, but botany wasn't his field, and Seven's near-eidetic memory was more reliable than his any day. If she said it was new, it was new.

"Let me guess, you want a sample?"

"Can I?!"

He sighed and held his hand out. Seven didn't bother with delicacy as she yanked the entire plant out of the ground. As she did, the roots and dirt fell away from it to reveal a bulbous pod attached to the leaves that had been aboveground. Sumeragi waved away the notification that told him he obtained an "Unidentified Item" when Seven gave it to him and stored it away in his inventory. Hers was already full from the previous day.

"Please don't wander off again, Seven."

"Mhm!"

He didn't have high hopes since he'd repeated the same warning hundreds of times already, but he was happy to see what he called the "normal" Seven. This was much more like how a girl her age should act. If it took him slaughtering thousands of wolves and who knows what else to keep her this way, it was a small price to pay. Besides, most of the non-dungeon monsters in the Forest of Wavering Mists stood no chance against him as he was now.

Sumeragi paused as the conspicuous rustling became louder. Wordlessly, he unsheathed his sword again and kept it leveled towards the bushes as he approached. Behind him, he could tell Seven had stopped her own activities to observe.

As he neared his destination, the researcher tensed in preparation for a Sword Art. It was impossible to initiate them while moving, but by assuming the stance ahead of time, he could use it that much sooner if necessary.

The rustling ceased. Both players stared in confusion when nothing else happened. Sumeragi even cut apart the greenery, only to find nothing that could have been the source.

"…Was the Forest playing tricks on us?"

His question echoed through the silence. He belatedly realized it had gone quiet.

"Seven, come here."

"'K-kay."

He grimaced. The seriousness in his tone had probably scared her more than the actual situation did. He didn't want to reassure her just yet though. His instincts told him something was wrong. Unsure of where an attack might come from, Sumeragi opted to keep his head on a swivel. When he heard voices in the distance, he snapped towards the direction they were coming from. Seven similarly followed his lead.

"Other players?" she wondered aloud.

"Or elves. If they're players, then they're clearers. We should be in the middle of nowhere, though… Why would anyone else come out here?"

"Are they hunting the Golden Treant?"

"What? O-oh, right."

He had completely forgotten their original objective after the first day. How embarrassing. Sumeragi coughed into a fist and relaxed his stance slightly.

"We shouldn't let them bother us. Or bother them. Let's go somewhere else, Seven."

"M'kay."

Sensing that her guardian was no longer on high alert, Seven calmed down as well. Sumeragi reached out and grasped her hand while gently pulling her along in the opposite direction of the voices. In his haste, he failed to notice her half-perplexed look.

…

Another wolf. Why did it have to be wolves? A couple of seconds later, a scattering of polygons signified the monster's demise.

 **Gained 81 experience points. Obtained-**

Kirito didn't bother paying the system notification in the corner of his view any further mind as it dismissed itself automatically. He impatiently waited for the vulnerability period of his Arts to end, his eye twitched as yet another of the same monster made its presence known by leaping from the underbrush. Its charge was met with a quick upward, then downward slice. At his level, one «Vertical Arc» was enough to dispatch the snarling wolf, but it was extremely annoying to constantly be rooted in place after using a singular Art.

From a game design standpoint, Kirito was having trouble comprehending the reasoning behind the monster distribution. On the one hand, it was important to keep the monsters thematically appropriate. Wolves certainly lived in forests. On the other hand, it was also important to add diversity to keep players from getting bored. A lot of things lived in forests. He and his companions had fought a wide enough variety of them just yesterday.

Why, then, had they only encountered wolves so far? He refused to believe the genius Kayaba Akihiko would make an area with only one monster type without some reason. At least they were still making steady progress.

"Onii-chan, you look troubled."

Kirito glanced over at his adopted sister. She had just finished off her own wolf, the shared experience due to being in a party thankfully hidden by his settings. Otherwise, he'd never be able to see clearly out of his peripheral vision. An arrow whizzed by the teen's head. He didn't even bat an eye as he heard the telltale sound of a monster breaking apart behind him.

"It's nothing, Sugu. I was just thinking about how we haven't seen anything but wolves so far."

"Oh, that's because we're in their section of the Forest," Tilnel chirped from her position casually walking next to Sinon, who was already taking aim again. The gleeful expression on the budding sniper's face was slightly disturbing to Kirito, so he resolved not to look at her.

"We are? I thought wolves spawned everywhere," Leafa said.

"They spontaneously appear around the Forest, sure, but that's more due to the fluctuating runes than them actually living there. The place they spawn from is in a dungeon a couple of minutes… uh… somewhere thattaway."

Tilnel's haphazard gesturing made Yuuki, who was seated on her shoulders, sway dangerously. The smaller girl pinwheeled her own arms in an effort to regain her balance before hunching over the elf's head.

"Til-nee! Watch it!"

"Oops! Sorry, Yuuki-chan!" she apologized sheepishly. "You're so light I forget you're there sometimes!"

Yuuki's pout shifted into a pensive look.

"Maybe I should gain some weight? Can we even do that?"

Strea perked up a few meters away, standing amidst a shower of polygons from the two wolves she had just slain.

"I'm pretty sure you can't yet. But eventually! Cardinal's working on it!" she shouted while hefting her large blade with both hands and resting it on a shoulder. A second later, she brought it back down in a vicious chop that instantly killed the next wolf that appeared from behind a nearby tree.

"Character models cannot be changed in that way at the moment, but it is a planned expansion," Yui added from her position on Kizmel's shoulder in pixie form. The dark elf maintained a slow, but steady pace as she continuously surveyed the surroundings despite not needing to.

Kirito deadpanned at both elves. They both seemed to be in the middle of their own personal safe zones, small areas of peace in the middle of the constant onslaught of monsters. If not for his own «Prestige» Skill repelling the weaker ones, he was sure he'd be swamped the same as Sinon and his cousin were.

"Why aren't the wolves attacking Yuuki again?" The subject of his question beamed at him.

"We are part of the Forest," Kizmel replied. "Its residents do not view us as anomalies like you. I could not tell you exactly how my sister is masking Yuuki-chan's own presence with hers, but it is what she is doing."

The sole male of the group looked at the playful forest elf expectantly.

"Obviously, it's because she's my little sister now!"

Kirito's deadpan became deader at the non-answer.

"Tilnel seems to possess a variant of «Authority» that allows her to override the identification tags the monster A.I.s use in their targeting algorithms," Yui spoke up.

Tilnel pouted at her.

"Ruin my fun, why don't you."

"You have «Authority» too?" Kirito asked with surprise. Leafa and Sinon paused and looked at him questioningly.

"Nooope~"

"But Yui just said-"

"It's a variant, Kirito," his A.I. companion interjected.

"What does that mean?"

"What's «Authority»?" Leafa chimed in. "Is that a new Skill?"

"«Authority» is a System Skill that grants entities power over Aincrad and its residents," Yui explained patiently. "It comes in three forms: the «Absolute Authority» held by the Master of Aincrad, general «Authority» granted to elevated NPCs, and lesser variants that are further-downgraded versions of the former two. These lesser variants are not actually named «Authority» and may be completely different in purpose. For example, both my sister and I possess «Autonomy», which grants us immunity to all forms of «Authority» completely, but we have no effective Authority of our own."

"Huh… so can anyone get it?"

"No," Kirito replied. "Yui said it's only granted by the Cardinal System, and only to NPCs. All versions of the Skill were never meant for players. It is also generally forbidden to be used directly on players outside of specific quests such as tutorials or Grand Quests."

"That is correct," Yui confirmed.

"Wait, so is Tilnel-san allowed to do what she's doing?" Sinon asked while nocking another arrow.

Soft titters of laughter came from the forest elf.

"I'm technically not using it on Yuuki-chan~" she said cheerfully. "And Kiz-chan's got it too! It kinda works on everything around us, which is why Yui-chan's perfectly safe. I mean, she could just stick to Kirito and she'd be fine too, but our way's better!"

Kirito blinked.

"Wait, does that mean if we all held hands or something, we wouldn't be attacked?"

"My sister misunderstands," Kizmel responded with a sigh. "It is proximity-based, and it usually does not work on players at all. Hers was recently strengthened, which is why it can apply to Yuuki-chan, but it would likely fail if any one of you tried to add yourselves to it, and mine wouldn't protect you at all."

Leafa paused long enough in her latest battle to glance between the two elves, eventually settling on Kizmel.

"…Why do you know this and she doesn't?"

"Because I was deemed the more responsible one. Also because I actually pay attention when I'm told important matters."

"By who?"

"Our queens, naturally."

Conversation stalled as they reached a large break in the trees that was conspicuously devoid of any wolves. Kirito was instantly on high alert, but he couldn't detect any monsters or immediate threats in the vicinity. Sinon and Leafa similarly fanned out warily, but relaxed after finding nothing.

"Is this a monster-free zone? A campsite, maybe?" Leafa wondered aloud.

Sinon hummed and consulted her guidebook, then her map data.

"Isn't marked as one, but the floor hasn't been fully-explored either, so it could be. Maybe unlocked by a quest?"

"Boo," Yuuki whined. "Are we there yet? I'm bored of seeing nothing but wolves."

The three human combatants glared at her half-heartedly. She returned their stares with a unrepentant grin. Soon afterwards, she was fell into a giggling fit as Tilnel tickled her into submission on her shoulders. Satisfied her passenger wasn't going to be cheeky anymore—that was her job!—the forest elf walked to the center of the empty clearing.

"That's strange. I thought it was around here," she mused. "My «Tracking» Skill says it's here. The trail just ends."

"Normally, that means it was slain here, but there aren't any signs of conflict…" Kizmel added. "It doesn't hide itself either, so it's impossible for it to have escaped our scouts."

Yuuki fell backwards off of Tilnel's shoulders, acrobatically flipping into a standing position as she equipped her sword.

"Kirito! I'm bored! Fight me!"

Her target gave her a flat look that she was very used to seeing from him.

"You could always help us kill wolves?" he suggested.

"Don't wanna! They're boring and too easy!"

She began flailing her sword around in a mock tantrum.

"Hmph. All these years, and you humans haven't changed one bit."

As one, all of the players spun towards the new voice. Kirito blinked a couple of times as he regarded the group of newcomers that had emerged from the trees on the other side of the clearing, their pointed ears and delicate features a dead giveaway to their race. However, these didn't feel quite the same.

The elves wore the same uniform he was used to seeing on the royal guards at the elven queens' castles, minus the armor, but it was aged and frayed. Strapped to each of their waists was a sword halfway between the Anneal Blade and the standard rapiers most elves used, and slung across their backs were white bows that reminded Kirito of the trees found in the vicinity of Yofel Castle, a quest location on the 4th Floor associated with the Elf War quest campaign. Together with their blank expressions, the group of NPCs gave off an unsettling aura as they stood unmoving at the edge of the tree line behind their apparent leader.

Contrary to what might be expected from someone in a higher position of authority, the elf's clothing was even more tattered than his compatriots', the presence of a second sword at his waist the only other difference between him and them. On closer observation, Kirito noted that all of the elves looked way too similar for his liking, their ageless features making it impossible to discern how old they were actually supposed to be. In addition, something about the elf wasn't quite right.

However, it wasn't any of those unsettling qualities that had stunned the players into silence. It was the fact that their levels were all 100.

"What's the matter, human? You travel with those of our kind. Is it so shocking to see more?"

The man's voice was soft, but it still carried across the empty space separating the two groups. His question was enough to shake the players from their surprise. He didn't seem to be hostile. Leafa was the first to speak up.

"Are you from a higher floor?" she ventured. "I thought Nerius was blocking the gate."

"The wayward Treant was taken care of. It is resting peacefully."

The elf took a couple of steps forward, a mist-like shroud following in his wake that eventually coalesced into a half-cloak. Kirito recognized it as almost a carbon copy of Kizmel's own supposedly unique accessory. A quick glance over at the dark elf princess revealed that she too was surprised he owned such a thing.

"My name is Solwyn. My companions and I are here to deliver a message to you."

His eyes were clearly looking at Kirito.

"Again, Onii-chan? How do things like this keep happening to you?"

The teen stepped forward to meet him without answering, walking past a frozen Tilnel. He didn't like seeing both of the elf twins speechless. He could make out several different emotions in their eyes, but none of them boded well. Yuuki came up beside him, curiosity getting the better of her.

"From who?" Kirito asked.

"Wouldn't it be either the dark elf queen or the forest elf queen? They look like royal guards," Yuuki remarked.

Kirito saw the man's eyes narrow, but the elf's neutral expression quickly reasserted itself.

"I am a High Elf, and I will thank you to remember that," Solwyn said calmly. "We do not serve the current queens. Rather, our own monarch was very recently returned to us."

"A new elven race? That's awesome! What are you guys like? Are you strong?"

The elf smiled wanly.

"Yes, we are. However, you are mistaken. We existed before the others."

"Woah!" Yuuki was either unable to read the atmosphere or doing her level best to lighten it. Kirito had his money on the latter. "Can we duel sometime? Like now?"

"Perhaps another time," Solwyn answered diplomatically. "We have other messages to deliver, so we must be on our way soon." He locked gazes with Kirito. "You are the so-called 'hero' of the Elf War?"

"…That's me. May I ask who wants to send me a message?"

"First, the message itself. It is threefold."

Kirito found a plain white envelope deposited into his hands. He flipped it over and noted the unfamiliar seal. He looked back up at Solwyn questioningly.

"You are cordially invited to attend a banquet to celebrate the unification of all elves into a single race once more. The time and location are both enclosed."

"The unification of the elven races?"

"Indeed. The second part of the message is much the same, but it applies to your allies as well."

Another envelope, similarly sealed.

"Inside there you will find no less than a hundred invitations to the formal wedding of Queen Lyusula and Queen Kales'Oh to our monarch, King Alberich. I have one for each of you, and we will be distributing these amongst the rest of the population in the coming weeks."

"Alberich? Is he-"

"He is the one who sent this message, yes. As you have surmised, all elves serve him."

"Why haven't I ever heard of him? Where was he during the Elf War?"

Solwyn scoffed.

"King Alberich has more important matters to attend to than to settle petty debates between children."

"Children…?"

"We elves are long-lived. The queens have barely ruled for a century. But that is neither here nor there."

The mood changed completely as a familiar, but very unwelcome, sensation washed over Kirito. «Infinity Moment». Only, he wasn't using it. He realized the others hadn't moved or spoken a word since Solwyn began delivering his message. The envelope fell to the ground as Kirito reached for his sword, only to find that his body had already stopped responding to him.

 _Is this what it feels like for others when I use it?_

"The last thing I have to say to you, 'hero', is that your actions were, and are, unnecessary."

Kirito struggled to turn his head to look behind him. Yuuki was at his side, her character model frozen in the middle of glancing curiously off to the side. His adopted sister and Sinon were both staring past him expectantly. He blinked. That was four short. Turning his head back around slowly, he thought he barely caught a glimpse of a smug smile on Solwyn's face.

"Where're Kizmel and Tilnel? Where're Yui and Strea?"

"The world has no place for those inferior to the original races."

The elven man's tone was neutral, devoid of any mockery or arrogance, as if he were simply stating fact.

"In truth, I was reluctant to allow the fallen elves back into the fold at all, but their knowledge of your Skills will prove beneficial once they are assimilated into our society."

"What?"

"My time runs short," Solwyn noted casually. He strode across the clearing until he was within arm's reach of Kirito. "We elves do not desire conflict with the humans. Consider this a formal request to reestablish diplomatic relations and reforge old alliances. Please communicate this to your leader. We will be spreading the message ourselves, but Lord Alberich thought that a prodigious fighter such as yourself might be a more effective mouthpiece than our envoys. Now, do you have any questions before I depart?"

Kirito forced himself to calm down. Yui and Strea were most likely just fine. They were basically immortal and immune to most system effects. Solwyn was obviously not interested in fighting. Besides the fact that the elf was literally four times his level, he had also stated multiple times that conflict was not the end goal.

"Kizmel and Tilnel. Where are they, and what are you planning to do to them?"

"None of your concern. They will return, as will your other companions, once my comrades and I have left the area."

That was… somewhat reassuring. Had the elf's version of his «Exceed» ability just temporarily relocated them? It couldn't have been an NPC-exclusive effect, unless the other high elves were immune. Which was possible.

"How are you doing this?"

"Ah, you are referring to the fact that, as elves, we should not be capable of using Skills?"

Actually, he wasn't, but Kirito wasn't about to tell the elf that.

"You are not incorrect in your assumptions. After the Separation that spawned the lesser races, we secluded ourselves in hopes of finding a way to replicate their achievement without giving up our connection to the runes. We were unsuccessful. However, our Lord was gifted power by the Master of Aincrad and shared it with us."

 _The Hollow Avatar is behind this?!_

"Those were not the type of questions I meant when I prompted you for such, but I suppose it was my fault for not being clear." Solwyn nodded once. "It seems you have fully comprehended the content of the message we were sent to deliver, so we will be taking our leave now."

"Wait-"

A snap of the fingers. Kirito was hit with an intense feeling of vertigo as the world shifted around him. The world distorted around him, and he soon found himself standing in his original position. He blinked and looked down at his hands. The two envelopes he held offered no answers to his confusion. Wait, where was everyone else?

"Watch out, Kirito!"

"Huh?"

Kirito looked back up and ducked on sheer reflex as a giant golden tree trunk of an arm swung through the air above his head.

"What the f-"

An arrow whizzed by his head and embedded itself in the bark of the giant tree monster. Its shooter clicked her tongue in annoyance at how little effect it seemed to have and nocked another arrow, taking aim at a different spot.

"Quit standing around!" Sinon shouted. "You're in the way!"

"Whoohoo! Let's go!"

"Pay attention, Onii-chan! It's still attacking!"

Yuuki and Leafa were behind the Golden Treant, hacking away at roots that had sprung from the ground. Had the monster ignored them and gone straight for him? When did it even get there? Drawing his two swords hurriedly, Kirito attempted to parry the return swing, only to immediately regret his decision as he was bodily flung backwards several meters.

"C'mon, Kirito! Is that all you got? The old you didn't need an extra sword to be awesome! You can do it!"

Tilnel's cheering mixed with teasing caused him to look around in confusion, since he could not see her anywhere. Eventually, he found her several meters off the ground, sitting on a relatively low-hanging branch. He quickly averted his eyes since she flashed him by recrossing her legs. No doubt she'd keep it up for as long as he kept staring.

"Kirito, are you okay?"

The boy started as Kizmel made herself known. Right next to him.

"I-I'm fine… What…?"

Worried eyes met his.

"Are you not feeling well?"

"…Solwyn… high elves… what…?"

"Was the third part of the message that worrisome?"

"I-"

Further conversation was derailed as the ground underneath them shook. Cracks appeared in the earth nearby as something appeared to be burrowing upwards from below. Kirito barely managed to get his wits about him in time to sidestep an emerging root that tried to grab ahold of his foot. With a small grunt, he used both swords to cut the offending limb(?) into pieces.

"Right. Golden Treant first, questions later."

"That would be wise," Kizmel agreed.

The ground quaked again, but this time it wasn't a tremor that was caused from below. Rather, it felt like an explosion. All of the players and even the Golden Treant itself paused and stared in the same direction as a quiet rumbling slowly became louder. Due to the height of the trees, it was impossible to see over them, but Kirito imagined that if they were normal trees, he might see the stereotypical flock of birds taking flight as something large tore through the normally tranquil woods.

Almost a minute later, two figures emerged from the tree line.

"Sumeragi! I found it!"

"Yes, I see that!"

"I want a sample! Better yet, catch it!"

"Are you being serious right now?!"

Only one of them was actually running. The blue-haired man was carrying the silver-haired girl in his arms as he beat a hasty retreat from whatever it was that was chasing the duo. Kirito recognized the name as one of the «Prestige» users Argo told him about weeks and weeks ago. However, that particular thought was banished when he saw the absolutely enormous wolf that was barreling through the woods.

To the surprise and complete befuddlement of everyone there, Sumeragi sprinted through the clearing with a speed that far exceeded what he should have been capable of. At least, that's what it seemed like, with the gigantic wolf covering the same distance at roughly the same speed as it ignored the others in favor of the fleeing duo.

"Sumeragi, turn around! It's getting away!"

"Seven, _we're_ getting away! We can hunt it again next week!"

"But, the rare monsterrr…!"

Their voices soon faded into the distance along with the heavy footfalls of the monster that could have only been a Field Boss of some sort, leaving behind a general air of incredulity. For a scant few seconds, the clearing was completely silent.

Kirito's eye twitched.

The others turned towards the teen as he began to emit an extremely unsettling aura.

"…Uh, Kirito…?" "…Onii-chan…?"

Yuuki and Leafa trailed off as he approached, moving ponderously with both swords lowered in the direction of the Golden Treant, which was busy pulling its arms out of the ground after its last root attack. Sinon and Strea gave him a wide berth as he passed, and even Yui, in her pixie form, was unwilling to ask him what he was planning on doing by calmly walking up to the rare monster.

Kizmel and Tilnel both watched with morbid curiosity as the Golden Treant finally freed its arms and prepared to swing at the defenseless Kirito. Eventually, Tilnel braved the question.

"You okay, Kirito?" she shouted from her branch.

It was apparently the wrong question to ask, because she swore Kirito actually growled at her.

"Oookay. Go go go!"

He sighed as he sidestepped the pathetically slow attack of the Golden Treant, its arm embedding itself in the dirt next to him. He didn't even flinch at the impact, nor did he pay the spray of rocks, twigs, and other things any mind. It wasn't like the debris hurt him.

"Done. I'm so done." He leveled his swords at the monster and took a deep breath. "First, you die. Everything else can wait." He immediately launched into one of his usual Art chains, ignoring the looks he got from the others.

They all collectively blinked as the Treant reeled backwards, its HP already in the yellow. Yuuki scrunched her face up.

"Hey, I want to kill it! Don't hog the rare monster!"

With that, she launched herself into the fray. The "fight" against the rare encounter began in earnest and ended shortly thereafter. At its conclusion, Kirito signaled for everyone to gather around, waving away his level up notification.

"Did all of you get invitations?" he asked, wasting no time.

Many looks of confusion answered his question, but not for the reason he initially thought.

"Of course we did. The high elves gave them to all of us. Are you feeling okay, Onii-chan?" Leafa asked worriedly.

"…Yeah, I'm fine." He stared at the NPCs and A.I.s of the group pointedly. "But I want answers. Now."

His serious tone left no room for argument. Yuuki and Sinon were surprised, having never seen him act the way he was. Leafa was less affected, but inwardly she was both concerned and hopeful. The last time she had seen him this determined, he was still practicing kendo.

Oddly enough, Kizmel and Tilnel smiled.

* * *

 **«MMO TODAY»**

Published by SVFFR and made possible by support from readers! Thank you!

Premiere and Tia ran away with the vote for this chapter. Y'all must really want to learn more about them or something, huh? They won thirteen votes to the eight votes for the runner-up, Argo. But first, the bonus!

* * *

 **Advanced Primer:** System Skills

Skills are normally divided amongst Weapon, Combat, and Auxiliary, with a scant few allocated to the Extra type based on very specific conditions, but yet another categorization exists. The illusive System Skill classification is usually reserved for Skills which do just that: classify their holders. While these Skills often come with other effects unique to their users, they are much more meaningful as a means of differentiating those they are bestowed upon. Exactly who or what they are differentiating for or what criteria such classifications use is a mystery.

A total of six System Skills have been unveiled thus far: «Prestige», «Exceed», «Adaptation», «Creator», «Immortal», and «Authority». The «Lovemaking» Skill also exists as a System Skill for Kirito due to an error in its creation. To all others, it is a normal Auxiliary Skill (except for Tia, its «Creator»). Of the System Skills, «Prestige», «Exceed», and «Adaptation» are also known as the "System Trinity" due to the significance they carry to those beholden to the Cardinal System. Kirito is the only player to carry the Trinity, whereas Yui and Strea are the only A.I. entities to do the same.

At present, the true «Prestige» Skill is carried by seven players who were able to earn it during beta testing, while the «Exceed» Skill is exclusive to Kirito and Yuuki. Kirito is the only player with «Adaptation», but all NPCs and ghosts also have it. It is the Skill which allows them to mimic and learn human behavior. For ghosts in particular, the Skill was purposely made necessary for their survival. A ghost which refuses to accept his or her new reality inevitably self-terminates or goes berserk, forcing deletion by the System itself.

The remaining System Skills are limited in distribution. The «Creator» Skill is reserved for players or other entities which successfully petition for the creation of a new Skill. It has no outward effect besides allowing its user to equip his or her created Skill as an Extra Skill so as to not take up a valuable regular Skill slot. Each player can only have one Skill for which this applies, and cannot gain the «Creator» Skill more than once. The «Immortal» Skill, as the name implies, prevents its bearers from dying via HP loss by setting the minimum value of HP to 1. It cannot be obtained normally, and is only gained through the effects of other Skills or by application of the last System Skill.

«Authority» cannot be obtained by players, only being bestowed upon elevated NPCs by those recognized by the Cardinal System. At its highest level, it confers the ability to manipulate the very structure of Aincrad in addition exerting control over its inhabitants. The use of «Authority» on players outside of very specific contexts is strictly forbidden.

* * *

 **Character Highlight:** Premiere (Lv.?)

" _Was this part of Her plans…? I suppose it doesn't matter now."_

One of a pair of NPCs inexplicably left in the game by Kayaba Akihiko. Premiere and her twin sister Tia existed as null programs, hollow shells with no predefined behavior beyond their classification as quest-giver NPCs, before they were repurposed to inherit certain portions of the old Cardinal System's functionality shortly after its collapse. She is in nominally in charge of all nonessential tasks Core presided over prior to the launch of the full game, but in truth, most of her duties are handled by automated processes and the Hollow Avatar. The only system she can truly control is the Skill Creation System, a privilege her sister often usurps from her when she isn't paying attention. She also has limited access to the Quest Creation System due to her classification as a quest-giver NPC, which she used to make alterations to the original Grand Quest of the game. Her personality is less developed than her sister's due in part to how eager her sister is to observe players, but mostly due to her own machinations. She seeks to protect the world of Aincrad and believes that at least one among the A.I.s must remain far-removed from human thinking to better accomplish this.

 **Skills:** «Rapier Lv.0», «Switch Lv.0», «Research Lv.0»

 **Extra Skills:** «Training Lv.0»

 **System Skills:** «Prestige Lv.0», «Exceed», «Adaptation», «Immortal», «Authority»

 **«Prestige»:** Skills the user has equipped cannot have their effects reduced or nullified.

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 **Character Highlight:** Tia (Lv.?)

" _I used to ask myself, 'Why do they do that?' Now, I think… I finally understand."_

One of a pair of NPCs with no behavioral coding inexplicably left in the game by Kayaba Akihiko and later repurposed to inherit portions of the old Cardinal System's functionality. She was entrusted with the Prestige System by Ghost. Unlike her sister, who can exert some influence over the new Cardinal System, Tia's «Authority» does not allow her to do so except in cases of emergency, often leaving her with nothing to do. She generally spends her time observing players in all manner of situations and creating nonsensical quests for fun. She strongly believes in Ghost's vision of shaping players to serve as ideal role models and partners for the NPCs, and so actively pursues various tasks that she thinks contribute to that goal, although she has taken the "partner" aspect seriously. This led her to use the Skill Creation System to make a Skill for the sole purpose of encouraging more intimate human-NPC relations. While trying to understand the players better, she developed a preference for Rapiers and convinced her sister to help her train (much to Premiere's irritation since they both have the ability to download information on how to properly wield the weapon). Tia's Skill choices were copied from various players she became particularly interested in.

 **Skills:** «Rapier Lv.0», «Accel Lv.0», «Taming Lv.0», «Switch Lv.0», «Acrobatics Lv.0», «Hiding Lv.0», «Subterfuge Lv.0», «Research Lv.0», «Analyze Lv.0», «Cheering Lv.0»

 **Extra Skills:** «Lovemaking Lv.1», «Trainee Lv.?»

 **System Skills:** «Prestige Lv.0», «Exceed», «Adaptation», «Creator», «Immortal», «Authority»

 **«Prestige»:** The user may copy the effects of any other «Prestige» Skill. Only one effect may be active at a time.

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 **Editor's Corner:**

Honesty is the best policy. Lots of characters aren't exactly who you might think they are, but at least half the cast can't tell a lie to the other half, right? I actually cut out an entire ending scene and reworked the whole high elf reveal. Solwyn is an OC, but you won't see much of him after this arc.

Friendly reminder that you should vote for the next Highlight and check my profile regularly for updates! I will always reiterate important edits to past chapters, but not the many minor edits that aren't plot-relevant. It might be worth checking out the expanded ending scene for last chapter though, just for funnies.

As far as the timeline is concerned, everything takes place four years later than in canon. The closed beta ends on May 31 instead of August 31. The full launch of the game takes place on August 6 instead of November 6. Everything takes place four years later than in canon. This information has been added to the Prologue. Dates are only important for holidays and birthdays.

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Next chapter: «Once Upon A Time»! Canon doesn't really touch on the lore of Aincrad beyond some obscure references, so let's build us a world and set up some plot while we're at it!


End file.
